The Cemetery Job
by everyday0203
Summary: AU story. Sakura's life takes a turn for the worst along with the failing economy, and she has to do anything to make ends meat...even if that means working in a cemetery with one very moody red head.
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone! long time no see (or been on here for that matter). I'm back and ready to write! Here's the lastest story...i know the first chapter is short, but the others get longer so no worries!

i hope you all enjoy this one like you did "Affliction".

:-)

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Why was she here?

She had asked herself that question a million times already and still didn't have the answer to satisfy her enough to get out of her car.  
She watched the sky turn darker and darker out of her car window, promising a strong storm with every gust of wind that pushed up against the glass.  
She knew why she was here, she just didn't want to admit it to herself.

Just a few months ago she had everything going for her. She was the top in her class with only one more year of medical school left. She had an internship with _the _top doctor in her field of study. She had the perfect relationship that made everyone around her jealous. She went to sleep with the world in the palm of her hand, and woke up the next morning to find that her grasp on her future had slipped…and that's when things started to change.

Almost overnight the world that she had known was turned upside down.  
The economy plunged deep into the depths of the netherworlds, with no promise of it changing.  
She was laid off from her job and suddenly the bills for her apartment, food and school were too much for her to handle.  
Even though she loved her internship, she had to quit it in order to find a full-time job so she could keep her head afloat. After all, one doesn't get much from an unpaid internship besides experience.  
She skimmed the newspapers and job websites in hopes of finding a well paying job, but all that greeted her eager eyes were stories of how fast the unemployment rate was climbing. She was late on her rent, but luckily for her, the landlady understood and knew that Sakura was good for the money.  
She went over to Sasuke's apartment, seeking solace and comfort, only to find him in bed with another girl.

Basically, Sakura's once perfect life had now turned to shit…and that's what brought her to where she was now.  
She had seen an ad in the weekly newspaper about the local cemetery needing a full-time worker. It was the first good news Sakura had seen in the past few weeks…as good as it was going to get anyways. She called the number that was listed immediately and was invited to come in for an interview as soon as she was available. The very next day, she dressed in her finest interview clothes and drove the fifteen minute drive to her possible salvation from becoming homeless and drowning in an ocean of dept.  
As soon as she got to the parking lot, her courage seemed to dissipate and she found that she couldn't drag up the will to physically get out of the car.

She stared ahead at the tall cast-iron gates that loomed in front of her and partially blocked her view of the giant cemetery behind it. Weeping willows lined the fence as well, swaying back and forth violently yet gracefully in the pre-storm wind.  
She became hypnotized by the leaves as they twisted and turned on their branches.  
The leaves could hold on in the storm, so why couldn't she? How was it that in a month Sakura found herself jobless, hopeless, and alone?  
It just didn't seem right. Things like this happened to other people, not her.

Taking a deep breath and leaning her head against the driver's side window, she watched as the clouds drifted by her, getting darker and darker at each passing minute. It wasn't until the first few drops of rain fell that she was jolted into action. It had taken her thirty minutes to make her hair perfect for this interview, a single drop of rain would ruin all of her efforts at looking presentable and, most importantly, hirable.

Jumping out of her car and slamming the door closed, Sakura ran as quickly as she could in her high heels toward the building that sat between the fence and the main gate of the cemetery. She could tell the building was old and dilapidated, and she wasn't even sure if that was where she was supposed to go. But the weatherworn wooden sign that was banging loudly against the side of the building somehow seemed to be calling to her. At first it was hard for her to make out the letters on the sign since the paint was faded and chipped off, but she could faintly make out the thick black letters that read 'OFFICE'.

She was almost to the building's door when the wind suddenly picked up and nearly blew her off of her feet. She frantically pushed down her skirt as she picked up her pace. She attempted to pull open the office door with her unoccupied hand, but the wind was too strong and the door wouldn't budge. Throwing her dignity to the wind, she grasped the doorknob with both hands and jerked it open with all her might. She slid herself through the crack and let the door shut behind her with a loud slam. Exasperated and out of breath, Sakura looked at the door behind her. It wasn't until she heard someone clear their throat in front of her that she turned around.

In front of her, sitting behind a large wooden desk was an older man who had a giant book set out in front of him. It looked like he was writing numbers into slots before she had burst in, and now he was just staring at her. "Can I help you?" he asked her, clearly unsure of what it was she wanted.

Sakura hurried to smooth out her windblown hair and clothes and answered, "My name's Sakura, I called yesterday about the job opening and was told to come in for an interview today."

The man's demeanor changed suddenly and a wide smile graced his face creating more lines on it. "Yes of course! Welcome Sakura. My name's Baki, I'm the one you spoke to yesterday. Please, have a seat." He said as he motioned to the chair in front of him.

Sakura let go of a deep breath as she smiled back at him and quickly approached the chair that the man had motioned to, welcoming the chance to once again sit down. Once she was seated, Baki asked, "How's the weather looking out there?"

Sakura let out a chuckle and shook her head, "It looks like hell is about to take over."

"Really?" Baki asked rhetorically as he got up from his seat and headed toward the only window of the building. He pulled down the blinds with one finger and stared up at the sky. "Damn…" Sakura heard him mutter under her breath and watched as he politely excused himself and walked into what she assumed was his office.

She heard him click on some sort of walkie-talkie and heard him say, "Come on in for the day guys, there's a huge storm rolling in and it doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon."

"Aye aye captain," she heard a scrambled voice respond before Baki returned to his seat once again.

"Sorry about that," Baki apologized once he was comfortably seated again, "I needed to get them in before they ruin my equipment out in the rain."

Sakura laughed uncomfortably and waited for him to start asking her questions. It was only a matter of time before he realized that she had zero experience in the labor and burial field…After all, she has trained her entire life to save people, not to bury them.

"Alright then," Baki said as he stretched himself out in his chair before leaning forward onto his desk with his hands folded in front of him. "Let me give you a little history on this place."

Sakura simply nodded at him to confirm that she was listening.

Acai Cemetery is one of the oldest cemeteries in Konoha. There's two parts to it, there's the newer cemetery where we still hold burials, and the old part that is considered an unofficial historical landmark. Although," he added with a chuckle, "many people don't like to think of it like that. We have graves back there that date back to the founding years of Konoha."

Sakura's eyebrows rose slightly, showing her genuine surprise and interest.

"The old section is what you'll be concerned with mostly, that is, if you accept the job. I have to be honest with you, I'm desperate here. With today's economy you would think that people would be chomping at the bit to have work, _any _work for that matter, but I guess this cemetery is the exception to the rule."

Sakura shifted in her seat uncomfortably.

"I'll be straight with you," Baki said, looking Sakura dead in the eye. "The hours suck, but it's an easy job and it pays great. You'll be here at the cemetery Monday through Friday from 8 o'clock PM to 8 o'clock AM. We have living accommodations for you so you don't have to worry about brown bagging your dinner every day. We even have a television set up to keep you occupied in the early hours. You'll start off at $15 an hour, then after the first 60 days of employment, you'll start getting $20 an hour plus full benefits. You won't be working alone either, we have one other night employee but it's difficult for him to cover the entire area by himself every night."

"And what would I be doing exactly?" Sakura asked cautiously.

"You won't be doing any manual work, that's for sure." Baki chuckled. "After all, it's not safe to dig holes into the ground when it's pitch black out. No, you're responsibility is to make sure no kids get back there and start causing trouble. Teenagers, and sometimes even adults, like to break into the back after hours and poke their noses around where they shouldn't. The last thing I want is a lawsuit from a disgruntled parent because their trespassing hooligan broke an ankle on a headstone or something."

Sakura nodded in understanding, "And that's all I would be doing?"

Baki nodded in response to her question.

Sakura couldn't help the smile that slowly crept across her face, "Then when do I start?"

Baki laughed and slapped the desk in front of him with joy, "Perfect! When are you available to start work?"

Sitting quietly in faux contemplation in order to pass a few moments since she didn't want her new boss to realize that she had nothing to do, she answered, "I can start tonight if you want."

"Tonight would be perfect. I'll meet you at the gates to let you in when you get here, but after tonight you'll have your own keys. The gate gets locked behind you every night and isn't opened until the next morning. The exception is if there's an emergency, of course."

"Of course." Sakura said in agreement.

"Let me get your paperwork for you and I'll let you go until I see you tonight."

Sakura's smile remained on her face as she nodded at Baki once more.  
Maybe there would be a break in the storm for her after all…


	2. Chapter 2

Sakura was back at the cemetery twenty minutes early.  
She had tried to waste as much time at her apartment as she could. She walked about picking up random things that she found lying around, dusted a few spots that she never had time to dust before, adjusted her hair in her ponytail a few times…but was just too anxious to start her new job.

When she pulled back into the parking lot, the sun was barely tipping over the trees around her, casting long, eerie shadows on the ground.

She walked into the office again to find Baki talking on the phone. She discreetly made her presence known and quietly closed the door behind her. Baki waved her in but continued to talk on the phone.

"That was _your _job." Baki said agitatedly. "He's your brother; I can't be responsible for damage control while I look after the three of you…"

He paused here and Sakura awkwardly looked around the office not wanting to eavesdrop but also finding no other way of avoiding it.

"I know you guys can take care of yourselves, I didn't say that you couldn't…"

Another pause but this time Baki took a deep inhale and let it out slowly.

"Okay, stop…I'm on my way home now. I'll be there in twenty minutes, don't do anything until I get there, alright?"

Whoever he was talking to must have agreed, because shortly afterward Baki hung up the phone.

Sighing and shrugging his shoulders at Sakura he said, "Sorry about that."

"It's no problem." Sakura responded awkwardly.

"I'm really sorry but I'm not going to be able to show you out to where you'll be staying every night…" Baki motioned to the phone. "Home issues."

Suddenly a ball of anxiety, Sakura put on the best smile that she could muster and managed to form the words, "it's alright."

"It's really easy though. Just take the paved road all the way to the back and you'll see a small house on your left. Everything you'll need will be inside and your coworker is already there to help you with any questions you might have." Pausing to sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose Baki added, "He spends so much time out there you'd think he wouldn't be able to cause as many problems at home…"

Sakura simply stared at him.

"I'm sorry," Baki said, holding his hands in the air, "I'm done venting. I'll see you in the morning."

He showed Sakura to the backroom and out the door that led directly into the cemetery grounds. The sun was lower now so the automatic lights that were alongside the road were beginning to kick on with a mechanical buzz.

Suddenly it dawned on her; she didn't know the name of the person she would be working with.

"What's my coworkers…" Sakura started to ask as she turned around in the doorway. But Baki was already gone. "…name." Sakura finished her sentence anyways and faced back to the cemetery that seemed to stretch on endlessly in front of her.

Shadows were slowly drifting across the well-kept lawn from the trees and headstones and Sakura took a brave step out onto the road that Baki had told her about and closed the door behind her. Twisting the knob, she realized that she was officially locked into the cemetery and Baki had failed to remember to give her a key.

_I guess there's no turning back now, _Sakura said to herself and shoved her hands deep into her jean pockets and began her journey through the cemetery.

She knew the cemetery was large, she just hadn't realized it was _that _large.  
She felt as if she had been walking forever and she was still in the new part of the cemetery. The sun was now flirting dangerously with the horizon and unconsciously Sakura quickened her pace.

Night hung heavy in the air and Sakura was aware of every little noise that went on around her. She heard the loose rocks on the pavement crunch beneath her tennis shoes and the leaves rustling from the wind. The shadows surrounded her and seemed to be reaching out to grab her. A chill ran up Sakura's spine and goose bumps appeared up and down her arms and legs. An owl called into the night somewhere to her right and Sakura's eyes flicked to the sun which was now barely holding its head above the horizon. She willed herself not to run. She wouldn't allow it. Being a rational person, Sakura didn't believe in ghosts. That didn't mean however, that she wasn't completely freaked out. Clinging to the belief that the house shouldn't be much farther, and with the promise of a paycheck in a few weeks, she controlled herself to where she was only walking briskly.

The longer she walked, the stronger her flight instinct wanted to kick in. Willing herself not to listen to it, Sakura kept her eyes trained on the road ahead of her. The graves around her seemed to get more worn as she kept walking and in the distance she could see a dull light hanging from the side of a building.

_Salvation! _Sakura cheered to herself and quickened her pace to all but a trot to reach it.

As she got closer to the house, however, her goose bumps returned. It looked like it was straight out of any horror film that Sakura had ever seen.

The house was clearly dilapidated. Large pieces of wood were falling off the sides and the gutter was hanging by a thread…literally.

It looked like someone had recently fixed the roof with slabs of wood because it was lighter than the rest of the house and stuck out like a sore thumb. The windows also had similar colored wood nailed to the frame, forming an 'x'. Light leaked out from the parts that weren't covered by the wood, giving Sakura the hope that there was someone with a pulse inside.

Bugs danced around a buglight like drunken ballerinas. Every once in a while, one of them would get too close to the bulb and would go down in smoke after a short zapping noise.

As Sakura neared the porch, the heavy smell of cigarettes clung tightly to the dead night air like a lover, offering her physical evidence that someone breathing had recently been in the area…Sakura could not have been more elated by this notion.

"The cemetery is closed." She heard a quiet yet authorative voice say somewhere around her. Sakura turned to face the cemetery and peered hard into the deep shadows surrounding her. Even though she strained her eyes as hard as she could, she couldn't make out anyone who could have said that.

A careful footstep and the roof creaking above her is what originally froze her to the spot. Someone was above her, probably watching her every move since she entered into the cemetery…even if she had wanted to run at that point, her nervous system simply would not allow it.

Against her better judgment, Sakura slowly turned around and lifted her gaze to where she heard the footstep.

The sight that was before her is the other reason why her legs petrified to the spot.

There, standing on the dilapidated roof, stood the outline of what she assumed was the owner of the voice.

Blacked out from the moon behind him, she could only see his silhouette, but she could make out the disheveled hair that was on top of his head and the baggy clothes that clung loosely to his body. His voice was deep and calm yet commanded authority to anyone he talked to. And, unfortunately for Sakura, that someone was her at the moment.

"You're not supposed to be here." Sakura watched as the living shadow moved its arms and crossed them in front of his chest.

Gulping down the surprise in her throat she responded, "I _am_ supposed to be here. I'm the new hire; Baki might have mentioned me to you…"

Silence greeted her as the reply and Sakura uncomfortably shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

The living shadow uncrossed its arms and reached into a pocket, pulling out a box. Sakura squinted her eyes through the darkness and watched as a light quickly appeared and disappeared only giving her a moment's glance of the shadow's face.

She heard him inhale deeply and then exhale a plume of smoke into the muggy summer night's air. They were at a standstill. Neither figure moving, neither talking, just staring at each other silently, taking in the other's presence.

Sakura watched as the figure on the roof slowly took deep pulls off of his cigarette, momentarily lighting up his face. The sharp angles of his cheekbones and nose that Sakura could make out with the limited light led her to believe that maybe this guy truly was a ghost...she had never seen a man with such pronounced features. The only thing she was sure of from the quick glimpses of his face that she got was that his eyes were on her…staring at her, studying her, sizing her up.

What seemed like forever, but in reality was only a few minutes, the figure flicked his cigarette butt to the ground a few inches from where Sakura was standing.

"He didn't mention anything about a new hire." The figure said.

Swallowing once again, Sakura responded, "Well, he figured you needed help, so he hired me on."

"I don't need help. Go home." With that said, the man gracefully jumped from the roof, landing on the ground as silent as a cat. He didn't even look at her as he turned around and walked into the house, closing the creaky door behind him with a loud slam.

Sakura was dumbstruck. Was this guy dense? The cemetery was _huge! _It wasn't humanly possible to watch the entire place for intruders. Not wanting to cause friction with her new coworker, and also not wanting to be a doormat for anyone, Sakura followed suit into the house as well.

Inside was a little better looking than the outside, but not by much. The floors were made of old wood but were covered with random sized and colored rugs. The walls were old and had peeling, sickly yellow wallpaper on them. Sakura could barely make out the faded flower pattern on them. There was a small T.V., a radio, a kitchen, and a bathroom. There was a set of stairs that led upstairs to what Sakura assumed was the bedrooms. There were random buckets placed sporadically around the house in order to catch water from the spots where the roof leaked. Old pictures hung on the wall of people Sakura didn't know, and the lighting was so bad that dark shadows sprung up behind any object that was large enough to cast one.

The man that was on the roof was now sitting on a beat up and filthy couch. Sakura watched as he placed yet another cigarette in his mouth and once again brought out his silver zippo in order to light it.

Although the lighting was hideously bad, she could now make out his features.

His hair was even more disheveled then she had first thought it was and was unnaturally red. He had dark circles around the brightest greenish-blue eyes she had ever seen on a person, and his bones stuck out in sharp angles, only accentuated by the lean, hard muscles that visibly moved and shifted with everyone movement that he made. His skin was pale…too pale; as if he was a living, breathing, walking ghost. Her eyes were drawn to a red tattoo on his forehead. She recognized it as a kanji, but hadn't the slightest clue of what it meant.

The same chill that she had gotten earlier while she was standing outside crept its way back up her spine, and Sakura noticed that the man had paused in lighting his cigarette and was staring at her too.

Feeling the blood begin to rush to her cheeks, she willed it back down and stared right back at him; the whole time fighting the urge to look at anything but him. He only stopped looking at her to light his cigarette. She watched as he smoothly flicked open his zippo and lighted it with ease. Bringing the flame to the cigarette, he breathed in deeply and then with another smooth motion, flicked the lighter closed.

Sighing as he exhaled his initial pull, he said, "I thought I told you I didn't need help."

Shaking her out of her reverie, Sakura responded, "But Baki said…"

"It doesn't matter what that idiot said," the man interrupted. "I work the night shift. I'm the _only_ person that works the night shift. End of story."

Clenching her jaw tightly and fighting hard against her anger, Sakura said as calmly as she could, "Well, it doesn't matter what you think. _You're_ not the boss."

Cold eyes greeted hers and the goose bumps returned on her arms again. "You won't last a week." Is all that he said before he leaned back against the couch and stared at the ceiling, calmly taking pulls from his dwindling cigarette.

To say that Sakura felt awkward would be an understatement. Not wanting to sit anywhere near the frustrating man, Sakura decided that standing was the best choice. But at the same time, she didn't want him to think that he was winning this obvious power struggle by _making_ her stand. Debating between the two decisions for a while, Sakura hadn't noticed that the redhead was moving.

The hissing noise of the still lit butt being put out in a glass half-full of water brought her out of her inner debate. The redhead got up, grabbed a black hoodie and moved to the door without even acknowledging her presence. Pausing at the door to put his hoodie on, something outside caught his attention and Sakura noticed headlights driving down the road that she had walked on to get to the house.

She heard the redhead mutter something incoherent and watched as he casually leaned against the frame of the door, watching the car approach. She watched as he lazily pulled yet another cigarette out of his pack and lit it.

_Of course I get to work with a chain smoker…_ she complained to herself as her medical knowledge of all the dangers of smoking flooded her head without thought.

"Fuck it." The redhead said as he casually pushed himself off the doorframe and swiftly stepped off of the porch. The thick darkness swiftly gobbled him up and Sakura quickly lost all track of him.

A few seconds later, the car came screeching and skidding to a halt in front of the old house and Sakura watched as a blonde woman all but jumped out of the car. She came up to the house with all the force and authority of a tornado.

Pushing past Sakura without even a thought, the blonde rampaged through the house. She pushed open doors only to slam them shut again. She pounded up the stairs and Sakura heard the woman's every movement on the ceiling above her. She heard things crashing and the blonde swearing loudly. Obviously not finding what she was looking for, the blonde pounded back down the stairs and turned her fury to Sakura.

"Where is he?" she all but yelled.

Surprised by the sudden and unexpected anger, Sakura's vocal chords seemed to be frozen in her throat. Unable to answer verbally, she simply pointed out the door.

"Shit!" the blonde yelled and ran out onto the porch, squinting and straining her eyes hard into the pitch black surrounding them.

Sakura stood rigidly as she watched the woman's shoulders fall in defeat and waited to see what the woman would do next.

Sighing and turning around, the blonde walked up to Sakura with her hands placed firmly on her hips and asked, "Who are you?"

Clearing her throat to kick her vocal chords back into gear, Sakura answered, "My name's Sakura…I'm the new hire."

The change in the strange woman's aura threw Sakura into a tailspin. The woman's hands dropped from her hips to her sides, her eyes grew warmer, and the trace of a smile even graced her lips.

"So you're the new hire? Baki told me all about it. My name's Temari, it's nice to meet you."

Still cautious of the previous furry, Sakura hesitantly smiled back at her. "How do you know Baki?"

Dismissing the question with a wave of her hand, Temari simply answered, "It's a long story." Walking over to the couch and sitting heavily down on it, she said letting out a deep sigh, "So you're going to be working with my brother, huh?"

Laughing slightly, Sakura answered, "If that rude mass of flesh is what you call a brother, then yes, I guess I am."

Temari let out a chuckle and nodded in agreement with her. "I am unfortunate enough to call him a brother, that's for sure. He didn't do anything to you, did he?"

The seriousness of the question unnerved Sakura, it was almost as if the woman was _expecting _him to do something to harm her.

Sakura slowly shook her head 'no' and answered, "Not unless you count being a complete asshole."

"Well that's to be expected of him. In fact, I would be more worried if he was nice to you."

"Do you work the night shift too?" Sakura asked hopefully. Maybe she would have at least one person here to keep her sane during her shift.

"No I don't, but my other brother Kankurou works the day shift. Gaara is usually the only one here at night. But now that you're here too, I'm sure that will screw up all of his plans and habits."

Images of chain-smoking flooded Sakura's mind and she silently wondered what else the redhead did that would be considered a 'habit'.

"So if you don't work here, why _are _you here?" Sakura asked suspiciously.

Sighing again and leaning forward to place her elbows on her knees, Temari answered, "In truth, I came out here because Baki told me he had a new hire starting tonight and I wanted to rush out here before you quit. Gaara can be a little rough around the edges, but Baki really needs an extra person on at night and I just wanted to make sure he didn't lose another person."

"Another person? It's happened before I take it?" Sakura asked.

Temari nodded, "It's happened quite a few times actually. Gaara likes being alone and will go out of his way to _make_ you quit. Pushing buttons is one of his specialties, besides his abrasive nature."

Sakura worried her lip with her teeth and nodded in agreement.

Temari let out a low chuckle and stood up from the couch. "But don't worry, he's really not all that bad once you get to know him. He's just had a lot of bad things come his way in the past and the result is the man you saw earlier."

Taking out a pen from her back pocket, Temari grabbed Sakura's hand and scribbled down a phone number.

"I have to go now, but that's my number. If anything happens or you just want to talk in order to not have your shift suffered through in silence, feel free to call me."

Sakura nodded and thanked the blonde genuinely.

Temari walked out the door and threw a backwards wave at Sakura. Getting back into her car as swiftly as she had gotten out of it, she roared her car to life and sped off down the road.

Watching the car brake lights quickly dissipate into the depths of the cemetery, Sakura sighed and looked at the number on her hand. _At least I have some sort of outlet besides bashing some heads in._

"Would you come on? We have work to do."

Sakura jumped in surprise as she was abruptly pulled out of her thoughts to find the man she now knew as Gaara standing in front of her with his arms folded tightly in front of his chest.

Wanting to tear him a new one, yet not wanting a confrontation on her very first day of work, Sakura bit her tongue and walked out of the door behind Gaara.

_I'm definitely not getting paid enough._ She thought to herself as she too was swallowed whole by the darkness of the night around them.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry about the wait everyone! I've been sitting on this chapter for a while but never posted it...Thanks for your continuing patience! :-)

* * *

Sakura tried to keep her distance from Gaara, but the darkness forced her to stay a few steps behind him in order to not lose him to the surrounding night.

The darkness seemed to shift with every step she took, making it increasingly difficult to distinguish exactly what was ahead of her.  
What she thought was a tree was really a statue, what she thought was a statue was really an elaborate headstone, and what she thought was a headstone was really a raccoon or another creature of the night.

Sakura wanted to ask questions about the cemetery, but decided that Gaara probably wouldn't answer them since he was doing his best to ignore that fact that she was even there.  
His pace was annoyingly fast. making Sakura realize that maybe he _could_ cover the entire grounds by himself and maybe she wasn't needed after all…maybe Baki would fire her, then she would be back digging through wanted adds. If she did that she may as well dig a grave for herself while she was here…

Shaking her head to get the dark thoughts out, something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. Something moved quickly and quietly in the night, seeming to stalk the two of them as they walked amongst the dead. She felt her heart rate quicken as the adrenaline rushed through her veins. She tried to focus on the location where the movement originated, squinting through the night trying to see what it was. When she went to ask Gaara if he saw something, she realized that he was gone. He had melted into the night and left her stranded in a huge, empty cemetery with no lights and no one around to help her…

A twig snapped behind her and she immediately froze. Her heart thudded in her ears as goose bumps began to form on her arms and legs. She didn't even know she was holding her breath until her lungs began to burn as they screamed for fresh oxygen.

Another twig snapped, only this time it was closer to her…too close. Instincts taking over, she bolted in the direction away from the sound.  
Tree branches grabbed at her clothing and whipped at her face, arms, and neck. She ran blindly into the open night hoping to find the warming and welcome lights of the house she was in a few minutes ago…  
Her nerves were on edge waiting in anticipation for the misstep that would send them screaming in agony.  
Turning her head to look behind her as she ran, panic only gripped her further when all she saw was darkness looking back at her.  
Before she could look in front of her again, she hit something, hard.  
Falling to the cold, hard ground, gasping to breathe, she heard an agitated voice say, "Watch where you're going."

"Watch where you're stopping!" Sakura fired back at him in between gasps as she struggled to get oxygen back into her lungs.

"Maybe if you weren't running around like a nutcase, you would have noticed I stopped and could have avoided running into me."

"Maybe if you hadn't left me and brought a flashlight out here with you, I would be able to see you better!"

"We can't use flashlights, it lets the trespassers know where we're at. Making it very difficult to do our job."

Sakura opened her mouth to say something back, but quickly closed it when she realized that she didn't have a comeback.  
Folding her arms over her bended knees and resting her head on them she muttered, "I thought I saw something move back there."

Gaara let out an annoyed chuckle and replied, "Maybe you're not as worthless as I thought. You did see something move over there, but it's just a coyote."

A chill ran up Sakura's spine as her imagination immediately pulled up images of her being surrounded and attacked by the wild dogs.  
"A coyote!" she exclaimed. "Shouldn't we be carrying around some kind of protection?"

Sighing at her ignorance, Gaara simply said, "They'll leave you alone. They're more scared of us then we are of them. Although, in your case, I'm not so sure that's true…"

Wanting to change the subject and get her mind off of what else could be lurking out there in the night, Sakura asked, "So why _did _you stop?"

Gaara turned his back to her again and said, "I thought I heard voices, but I was wrong. Keep moving."

They continued to walk in silence through the darkness. Sakura made sure that she was never more than one step behind him and kept her focus on his back to avoid another episode like the one she just had.  
Gaara didn't stop again, he just turned his head every once in a while, scanning the area. Meanwhile, Sakura stared daggers at his back, wishing that he would fall into an open grave so she could bask in his error.

They walked for what seemed like hours to Sakura. Only guided every once in a while by the moon when it was slowly uncovered by the clouds. They must have traveled in a circle somehow since the small house abruptly came into Sakura's view. Welcoming the sight, she restrained herself from running to it. The house meant light, warmth, and all the necessary living accommodations for the oxygen suckers in the area.

Sakura's happiness was short-lived however when she heard Gaara say as he entered the front door ahead of her, "You can go home now."

Pausing in the doorway, Sakura stared dangerously at the aggravating redhead, "Excuse me?" she asked.  
Her patience was now on its last thread. If he kept pushing her, she would have to explain to Baki in the morning how Gaara had mysteriously disappeared.

"You heard me." He said as he flicked on the television and lit a cigarette.

"I heard you say something, but I don't think I heard you correctly…because I know there's no way you could have possibly just told me to go home."

Exhaling the smoke in his lungs, Gaara flipped through the basic cable channels while he explained, "It's going to be a slow night, I don't need you, go home."

Slamming the door behind her, Sakura placed her hands on her hips and retorted, "I don't think you're the person who is qualified to make such a decision."

Pulling his eyes away from the television screen and bringing his full attention to Sakura, Gaara replied, "I've been working here for way longer than you have."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning I have seniority over you, thus making me qualified for such a decision. So go home."

"No."

"Yes."

They were at a standoff. Neither side giving in to the other, and neither side backing down.

Sakura stomped her way to the couch and heavily sat down next to Gaara, crossing her arms stubbornly over her chest.

She could feel his eyes on her, staring holes into the side of her head.  
They sat like that for a while. Sakura pretending to watch TV, and Gaara not trying to hide the fact that he was fantasizing of ways he could possibly kill her without getting caught. He settled on knocking her out and burying her alive in an unmarked grave in the middle of the cemetery. No one would know she was even there…

His thoughts were interrupted once again by Sakura asking, "Is there anything _good_ on TV?"

Gaara looked up at the screen to notice that he had stopped flipping through the channels when he was fantasizing about his new coworker's untimely death and had landed on infomercials. Gaara watched with mild agitation as the lady on the screen tried selling some kind of food processor in her squeaky voice.

"No." he answered, throwing the remote onto the couch next to him.

Sakura went to reach for the remote but paused when she heard, "Touch that remote and you will no longer have a hand."

Pulling her hand back slowly, she asked, "So let me get this straight. I'm not allowed to change the channel, I'm not allowed to talk to you without some kind of asshole retort, you don't want me to work with you…what exactly _can_ I do?"

"You can go home."

"That's not an option."

Gaara just shrugged, "Then I guess you'll just have to sit here in silence."

Sakura let out a frustrated sigh and returned to crossing her arms over her chest.

Silence consumed them. Sakura felt the eerie calm from the cemetery permeate through the cracks in the house walls. Even the man on the television trying to sell some kind of all-purpose cleaner seemed to be muted.

After about an hour of mind-numbing silence, Sakura began to get fidgety. Out of habit and sheer boredom, she began to play with her nails.

"Stop it." A low voice said next to her.

Sakura glanced to her left and glared at Gaara.

"Stop what?"

"That annoying habit. The clicking noise you're making is making it extremely difficult to be civil towards you."

Sakura stared at him in disbelief. _Civil? Is _this_ what he constitutes as civil? _She wanted to scream, she wanted to make as much noise as she possibly could to disrupt the choking silence…but most of all, she wanted to strangle the man sitting next to her.

Turning his attention back to the television, Gaara mumbled, "You're bleeding".

Her anger gone immediately, Sakura looked around at her arms and clothes to find the area he was talking about. That's when she noticed the damage her little escapade in the cemetery had caused her. Her forearms, hands, and from what she could tell, neck and face had been finely cut by the tree branches she had run through.

"Damn…" she muttered as she gingerly assessed the damage.

The weight of the couch shifted as Gaara stood up and walked into the kitchen. She watched as he grabbed a paper towel and ran it under water. Ringing it out slightly, he tossed it to her.

"Thanks…" she said, slightly surprised by the sudden act of kindness.

"Clean yourself up…I don't know what I could get from you."

It absolutely amazed Sakura how so few words could ruin any hope that the man was somewhat decent.

With a huff, Sakura stood up from the couch. She decided that she might as well get a handle on the layout of the house if she wasn't going to do anything for the rest of the night but be belittled by him.

She felt as Gaara's eyes followed her around as she entered and exited each room. The house was very basic, only providing its inhabitants with the essential living requirements. Sakura slowly approached the stairs, not really trusting the wood as she took them up to where she assumed the bedrooms were.

The upstairs was even worse than the downstairs. At least the downstairs showed signs of someone living. The upstairs, however, looked like it hadn't been touched in decades. A thick layer of dust sat on top of everything, and as far as Sakura could see, there was only one bed in the entire place. The realization that if she wanted to sleep she would have to sleep next to Gaara slowly crept into her mind and panic soon took over.

In all but a run, she bolted for the downstairs.  
Stopping at the bottom step she asked, "Where am I going to sleep?"

Gaara's eyes never left the television. "What are you talking about?"

"Where am I going to sleep?" Sakura repeated, a little more desperate this time around. There was no way she was going to get through her shift without _some _sleep. Her body simply was not used to staying up that late.

"On the bed." Was his answer. He tugged at another cigarette in his pack and lit it, slowly taking the first pull.

"But there's only one…" Sakura led on.

"So?"

"So! SO!" Sakura all but yelled. There was no way in _hell_ she would ever sleep next to that walking chimney.

Gaara just stared at her over his cigarette. His impassiveness blatantly displayed on his face.

Taking a calming breath, Sakura decided to take another approach to the issue. "If I sleep in the bed, where are you going to sleep?"

Gaara just shrugged.

Sakura could feel the blood pulse through her veins. He wasn't taking her seriously…the one thing that she demanded from everyone she met, and he was disregarding her as if she didn't even matter.

Sakura ran upstairs and pulled the blankets off of the bed in one pull. She violently grabbed one of the pillows and loudly marched downstairs, no longer caring if the stairs gave way or not.

Gaara didn't move, but simply watched her as she threw what she had in her arms onto the floor.

"What are you doing?" he finally asked as soon as she had set up her makeshift bed on the floor.

"What does it _look_ like I'm doing?" she fumed. She no longer had the self-control to play nice with him.

"You didn't have to do that."

"Oh yes I did!" she yelled as she straightened up to look at him again. "There is _no way_ I'm sharing that bed with you! Not tonight, not tomorrow night, not in a _million _years!"

"Hn."

Sakura paused at the noise he made. Amazing how one little noise could push her completely over the edge and into the abyss of her anger.

Her vision turned as red as his hair. Her inner self screamed for blood yet her body kept her rooted into the spot that she was standing in.

Gaara stretched lazily on the couch. "I meant you didn't have to pull the covers off of the bed. I don't sleep so you could have had the bed to yourself anyways."

Sakura noticeably twitched. Her hands clenched and unclenched by her side. She was thankful she wasn't holding the pillow any longer because she would have reduced it to nothing but a pile of feathers and cloth on the decrepit, wooden floor.

"You don't sleep?" she asked, every word an effort to not leap across the room and strangle him.

His arrogant stare fell upon her again, "I don't get _paid_ to sleep."

A wave of anger coursed through her body, followed by a wave of exhaustion. Her cuts burned from the sweat she had worked up and she felt as her muscles slowly started to give way. She stared at him a little bit longer before she calmly bent down and grabbed everything that she had brought down. Her anger and frustration was exhausting her. She no longer cared about the food she brought or about trying to get along with her co-worker. All she wanted to do was sleep.

"I'm going to bed." She muttered, no caring if he heard her or not.

"You could go home and sleep." He offered, only it wasn't an offer, it was a deep jabbing at the fact that he did _not_ want her there.

Summoning up her remaining energy, Sakura turned to face him for the last time that night. "Let's get one thing straight right from the beginning. I will _not_ be going home early _any _night. I will _not_ let your attitude force me out of this position. And I will _NOT_ quit, not now, not _ever._"

She stomped up the stairs one more time, leaving nothing but a trail of dust behind her.

She didn't even get a chance to hear Gaara say, "We'll see…"


	4. Chapter 4

Yet another chapter, yet another huge gap of time between them...sorry everyone! I promise to try and update quicker...

* * *

Sakura awoke with a start.

The sun was filtering through the half-boarded up window, unabashedly displaying the dust floating in the air. Her body was rapidly getting colder…and she was so warm a second ago. She squinted her eyes so that they could adjust to the light, which was a huge contrast compared to the darkness that she had fallen asleep in. The smell of cigarettes surrounded her and she sat up trying to get her bearings. Her back protested as she sat up, her muscles loudly proclaiming their dissatisfaction of her sleeping on such a piss poor mattress.

She jumped when she noticed that Gaara was standing at the foot of the bed. A lit cigarette in one hand and her blanket in the other.

Everything came back to her then. She had fallen asleep in the exhausted rage that she was in earlier, and now, the cause of that rage was waking her up…and judging by the look of things, he woke her up by ripping the covers off of her.

Mustering the best glare that she could before she had coffee, Sakura focused all of her ire on him.

"It's time for you to go home." He stated, unphased by her glare.

"I thought I made it clear last night," Sakura said between gritted teeth. "I'm _not_ going home."

Dropping the blankets to the floor and flicking the ash off the end of his cigarette onto them, Gaara shrugged. "You can stay if you want. Although I'm sure Baki won't be too pleased with his new hire getting _hours_ of over-time just so she can get her beauty rest."

Sakura jerked her wrist in front of her face. Her watch read: 10:00 A.M., two hours past when she was supposed to clock out.

"Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" she practically screamed as she jumped out of bed, trying desperately to straighten her sleep-wrinkled clothes.

He didn't answer her. Sakura didn't even need to look at him in order to see the smug look he was giving her.

She moved to exit the room, but he blocked her only exit by leaning against the doorframe.

"Move." She stated angrily.

Gaara just stared at her and took a pull from his cigarette.

"Move!" Sakura shouted as she attempted to push him out of the way.  
A heavy thumb sounded as her hands hit hard muscles. She tried not to let her surprise show since a hard body was the _last_ thing she expected from her carton-a-day coworker.

Taking a deep breath and turning away from him in order to regain her composure, she turned to him with a smile on her face and asked sweetly, "Please move?"

"No."

Her composure retreated again.

"Why not?"

No answer.

Tapping her foot agitatedly on the floor and crossing her arms in front of her, she stared at him while she chewed on her bottom lip in anger. It was time for another tactic…

"Yesterday you couldn't stand me being here, now you don't want me to leave? How does that make any sense?"

"Think about it." He stated simply, taking another pull from his cigarette and blowing the smoke into her face.

It didn't take Sakura long to figure it out. "You're _trying_ to get me fired!" she yelled as she used her hand to fan away the smoke.

He smiled slightly behind his cigarette.

Sakura opened her mouth to say something else to him when a loud, agitated voice yelled out from downstairs, "GAARA!"

His blockade of the door ended as he sighed and threw his cigarette onto the ground, snuffing it out with this shoe. "We'll continue when this is over".

His ego was staggering. Sakura would have stood there dumbfounded, but the pull of her curiosity was stronger. After all, she had to find out what kind of person would actively seek him out.

At the bottom of the stairs stood a man that somewhat resembled Gaara. It didn't take long for Sakura to guess that the man was his brother that Temari had mentioned the previous night. After all, who else would want to speak to Gaara besides his own siblings.

Gaara lazily walked down to the bottom of the stairs and sat down with a loud thud. The stair creaked in complaint at the sudden impact.  
Clearly avoiding the man standing in the doorway, he tapped his pack of cigarettes and pulled one out. Scowling at the inside of the pack, he tossed it to the floor and mumbled under his breath as he lit the cigarette that dangled from his mouth.

The tension in the room between the two males was palpable. Gaara was clearly avoiding the new, nameless man, and the other was quickly filling the room with his agitation. Gaara, however, didn't seem to care or mind at all. He continued to take pulls from his cigarette and stare at the floor, not even acknowledging the fuming person towering in front of him.

"Why did you do it?" The stranger asked with a shaky voice.

For the first time, Gaara looked at the man but only shrugged in response.

The tension thickened to the point where Sakura was finding it hard to breathe.

The two men at the bottom of the stairs just stared at each other.  
Gaara, a ball of calm continued to pull on his cigarette casually.  
The other man continued to get redder and redder. He was visibly holding his breath and reaching his limit.

Right before Sakura thought the man was going to pass out, the stranger let out a big exhale and sighed, "Forget it."  
The man quickly returned back to his normal color and the tension subsided. The man scratched the back of his head and stared with one eye at Gaara. "I would say 'never do that again' but it won't help anything."

For the first time since Gaara had walked downstairs, he verbally acknowledged the man in the room…even if it was just a simple response like, "Yep."

"But really bro, next time, try to at least find her a ride home."

"Hn."

"You know Temari and I don't like cleaning up your messes."

"You've never minded my sloppy seconds."

The tension returned once again.  
The older man was now overflowing with anger; Gaara was lapping up every ounce of it.

"Don't do it again." the older man said stiffly. "You're lucky we were able to get rid of her before Baki came home. If he would have found her, you're little requiem, " he said as he motioned around the house, "will all come to an end".

Sakura watched as Gaara's shirt shifted as his back muscles tightened. His jaw clenched and unclenched as he stared at the floor. What was left of his cigarette was now completely ash but still attached to the filter. A stiff silence hung in the air while she waited for one of them to break it.

"Seriously man, you need to clean yourself up…Temari and I are worried about you."

"What is this, afternoon special brought to you by Kankurou?" Gaara asked, agitation and sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"We're just looking out for you."

"Hn."

"And for god's sake, get yourself tested…who knows what kind of carrier that girl was!"

Gaara let out a low chuckle, "Come on, I'm not retarded."

For the first time since they had come downstairs, the man that Sakura now knew as Kankurou looked up and noticed her.

"Who's that?"

Sakura waved and quietly said, "I'm Sakura."

Looking at her from head to toe Kankurou continued, "I take back everything I just said…you're taste is greatly improving, bro!"

"I haven't touched her." Gaara said as he got up from his seat on the steps and walked into the kitchen.  
Opening up the freezer, he pulled out another pack of cigarettes and tapped the pack on the back of his hand.

"Oh…then…who are you?" Kankurou asked with genuine curiosity. "Don't tell me my little brother is finally making friends." Turning to face Gaara again, he stated, "And just when we thought you were hopeless!"

"No…" Sakura stated firmly, wanting to clear her name from any relation to the redhead. "I'm the new hire on the night shift."

"And you lasted through the night? Bravo!" Kankurou exclaimed loudly.  
For a second, Sakura thought he was actually going to run up the stairs and hug her.

"Oi Gaara," he said, completely turning his back on her once again and directing his attention to his brother. "Do you have any stuff left? The guys and I are out."

"You know, Kankurou," Gaara said impassively as he took a cup out of one of the cupboards "You really need to clean yourself up…Temari and I are worried about you".

The words previously said with such sincerity, now came out as mocking as Gaara threw them back in Kankurou's face.

"Shut up…" Kankurou started to say as the words rapidly died out. "Are you drinking whiskey?"

Leaning against the kitchen counter, Gaara poured a shut of the brown liquid into the cup and drank it down quickly.

"Jesus Gaara! It's 10:00 o'clock in the morning!"

Pouring another shot and tipping it in the air to cheers his brother, Gaara muttered, "Hair of the dog" and drank the second shot down quicker than the first.

Placing the empty cup into the sink, Gaara reached up into another cupboard and grabbed a bag of something and tossed it to his brother.

"$50 bucks."

"What? It was only $20 last time!"

"Consider it a fee for the lecture you gave me. Take it, or give it back."

Kankurou thought it over for a minute, then reluctantly plunged his hands into his jeans pocket. "It better be good."

"Hn."

Sakura's jaw was on the floor. Were they really doing a drug deal in front of her? Medical knowledge started to rampage through her brain as she watched as Kankurou tossed Gaara a wad of cash.

"I better not find you strung out later."

"Keep it up and you'll be paying twice the amount I just charged you."

Kankurou threw Gaara a wave over his shoulder and an impassive goodbye to Sakura as he walked out of the house.

As soon as the door closed, Sakura just stared at Gaara as he opened the fridge and grabbed a piece of pizza out of an old pizza box.

Cramming the pizza into his mouth, he turned to find her still staring at her.

"What?" he asked, still chewing.

"I could call the cops." She threatened.

"You won't."

"You don't even know me, how do you know what I will and will not do?"

"You need this job. Besides, anytime you call the cops and mention my name, you're almost guaranteed a no-show from them."

The threat hung in the air between them. She watched as Gaara quickly thumbed through the cash as he casually shoved more pizza into his mouth. Without another word, he grabbed his black hoodie, another pack of cigarettes out of the freezer and walked toward the door.

Jumping into action, Sakura followed suite.

Gaara locked the door behind them and jumped off the porch. Sakura turned right to head to the front of the cemetery. Gaara, however, turned left.

"Where are you going?"

"None of your business." He said as he walked even deeper into the cemetery grounds.

Having absolutely no desire to follow him, Sakura all but jogged to the front gates. Knocking on the door loudly, she was greeted by a smiling Baki.

"You made it through your first night!" he all but yelled.

Sakura simply smiled and nodded.

"Sorry I'm so late clocking out…" Sakura said sheepishly. "I fell asleep."

"That's alright, I don't expect you to stay awake your first month or so anyways. Allow your body to adjust to the hours, and I promise it will get easier."

"I promise my body will adjust…but things getting easier is what I'm doubtful of."

Baki laughed at her and motioned her into the office. "You can't say I didn't warn you…but like your body, allow him to adjust to you and maybe he'll start playing nice."

Throwing him a doubtful glance, Baki said, "I said maybe. See you tonight then?" he asked as he dangled the key for the back door in Sakura's face.

"Count on it." She said as she grabbed it from his hand.


	5. Chapter 5

**I've decided that if I look at this chapter one more time, I'm just going to delete it. So, I posted it instead. Sorry, sorry, SORRY about the long wait! I'm going to try harder to update sooner...  
Thanks all!**

* * *

Six months.

That's how long she had been working at the cemetery. Six months, two weeks, three days, four hours, thirty-six minutes, and nine…ten…eleven…

If you would have told her when she was first hired that she would have been here for that long, she would have laughed.  
Never could she have imagined that it would take this long for the economy to turn around and for her to resume her medical career. Within the first two months of not being in constant classes and being at her internship, she could feel her medical knowledge oozing out of her, forever lost to the endless nights she suffered through with Gaara.  
Once she learned that most of her job was actually spent waiting for someone to break into the cemetery and that there was a lot of downtime, she brought her medical books with her to work in a desperate attempt to continue her knowledge of medicine.

After all, she had to do _something_ to keep her sanity…the more she reflected on it, the more she realized her life had now embodied the cemetery that she lurked in every night…

Before this job, you could have drawn a line through her life.  
Her parents pressed on her from an early age that grades were important. So she didn't accept anything but an "A" from herself. When the other kids in her neighborhood were out playing, she was inside or under a tree reading a book.  
She graduated first in her class in high school and got a full ride into one of the best pre-med colleges around. When the other girls were out partying with the boys, she would stay up studying.  
Once in medical school, she really put her nose to the grind. She'd wake up at 5:00 A.M. and go for a run. At 7:00, she would review her studies before heading to class. She had classes all day, then would head to work. After work, she would head to her internship. She would get home, study the lessons she had learned that day, complete her homework, then fall asleep. Lather, rinse, repeat.  
She let herself have some fun sometimes. But drinking in moderation only, no drugs, and she wouldn't do anything until her studies for the day were complete.

But now…

Now…

Her skin had lost its summer kissed glow since she hardly ever saw daylight anymore. Her skin was now as pale as the moonlight that had now become the sun in her world.  
Her social life had become as dead as the occupants in the cemetery.  
Initially, she had tried to keep it active, but the opposite schedules of her and her friends made it near impossible. Phone calls everyday turned into missed messages on her answering machine, which turned into phone calls once a week, to occasional phone calls, to a phone call just to make sure she was still alive.  
And her sex life…nonexistent was a lesser term for what she currently had. Did she miss sex? Absolutely. Did she _want_ to have sex? You bet she did! At this point, just feeling the weight of a man on top of her would be sufficient. However, since her only option of having an active sex life again was Gaara…becoming a nun in the future seemed like a better option.

She thought she was going to go insane. She could feel it creep around whatever room she was in, feel it pushing on the edges of her consciousness, threatening to overtake her mind as soon as she let her guard down. And then, she started to hear voices…

It started one night while she and Gaara were out checking the grounds. It sounded like a woman laughing deep in the shadows and woods surrounding them. She stopped walking to tune in on the noise…but there wasn't anything besides the wind blowing through the trees and Gaara's footsteps in front of her. Shaking her head from side to side, she continued after him, only to hear it again. Only this time, it was louder.

Snapping into action, she pulled her flashlight out that she kept hooked into her belt and turned it on. Surveying the area around her, she saw only headstones.

"What are you doing?" Gaara's annoyed voice asked from in front of her.

"I heard something." She said, as she tried to look beyond her flashlight's beam.

"What?" Gaara asked as he looked around him.

"I heard a woman laughing over there." She said as she waved her flashlight at a heavily wooded area.

"I didn't hear anything…" he stated as he continued walking.

Reluctantly, she followed him and didn't hear any more voices.

It progressed to hearing the voices inside of the house. One night, while she was downstairs watching television and Gaara was upstairs doing who knows what, she heard him talking to someone. She couldn't make out what he was saying, but she heard his low baritone voice leak through the floorboards from upstairs. It sounded like he was talking to someone, but she didn't hear another voice contributing to the conversation.

Curiosity got the better of her, and she silently crept up the stairs. As she got closer to the bedroom, she could start making out the conversation.

"No. Because I don't want to…"  
Silence.  
"I don't know. She seems nice…she hasn't done anything too bad yet."  
Silence.  
"I tried…she won't leave."  
Silence.

"Who are you talking to?" Sakura asked as she reached the doorway and found Gaara sitting on the bed by himself, the room completely empty.

"Conducting in illegal activity." He said casually as he shoved a plastic bag back into his backpack and zipped it up. "Want some?" he asked with a smirk and presented a joint to her.

"No." she said flatly. "I want to know who you were talking to."

He motioned around the room and said, "Do you see anyone here?"

"No."

"Then who could I have been talking to?"

"But I heard you talking…"

"Hearing things isn't a good sign you know. First you heard voices out on the grounds, then you hear me talking to someone…did you find my stash?"

Rolling her eyes she said shortly, "No. I don't do drugs."

"Shame…maybe you should."

Slamming the door she stomped down the hallway to his laughter.

When she got to the end of the hallway she heard him say, "See? I told you she won't leave."

To stop her life from completely falling apart and proving further that she really was going insane, she actually asked Gaara for advice. His answer was surprisingly honest in comparison to his usual sarcastic and vague responses to her questions.

She was sitting on the couch next to him in silence, staring at the television but having no idea what was on it and subconsciously counting the number of cigarettes he smoked. He was doing his best to ignore the fact that she was in the room with him.

"How do you do it?" she asked, breaking the silence in the room as he moved to light the thirteenth cigarette he had smoked in her presence that night.

"Do what?" he returned.

"How do you have a job like this, with these hours, and manage to stay sane?"

He paused midway from bringing the lighter to the end of his cigarette. He stayed like that for a few seconds, staring wide eyed at the lit flame on his zippo as it gently flickered from his breath.

Tilting her head slightly to the side, she waited patiently for his response…however, her patience wasn't like it used to be.

"Gaara?"

Breaking out of whatever it was he was just in, he brought the lighter to his cigarette and lit it like nothing had happened.

"What was that about?" she asked.

"Sorry," he said as he clicked his lighter shut. "It's just been a long time since someone has called me sane."

It was her turn to pause. He had just confirmed her fears…she was working with a lunatic and she would soon follow in his footsteps and join him in loony land.

"So there's no hope…" she said quietly, resigning herself to her new lot in life. The economy would never turn around, she would never continue her career, and she may as well kiss her dreams of being a world renowned doctor goodbye.

"For you there is." She heard his voice say. "This job didn't make me this way. You just have to do the best you can with what is given to you."

His words were the ray of light she needed. Surprisingly, the advice had come from the _last_ person she had expected it from. Gaara had done his best to get rid of her…from selling weed to his brother in front of her, from purposely losing her in the cemetery and leaving it up to her to find her way back, to bringing random girls to the house and making so much noise upstairs she actually feared the ceiling above her would collapse. He had done his best to drive her to the brink of insanity, and now he was the one to pull her out of it? How S&M of him…

"Does this mean you've accepted the fact that I'm your coworker?" she playfully jabbed. Reveling in the feeling of jokes and smiles…she couldn't even remember the last time she laughed…

The solemn "no" that followed was of no surprise to her.

"Oh come on, admit it! I'm growing on you a tad…" she continued to playfully jab as she reached out to poke his shoulder with her finger.

The speed and force in which he grabbed her wrist and pinned it to the couch caught her completely off guard.

"Do _not_ touch me…" he seethed, the words dripping like venom from his mouth.

The way her wrist was twisted shot hot fire up to her shoulder. "You're hurting me…" she managed, although the words came out slightly forced and squeaky.

The laid back, cool expression on his face told her everything. It told her that he didn't want her joking around with him. It told her that she _wasn't_ in fact growing on him. And, more importantly, it told her that he really didn't care that he was hurting her.

To make his point, he squeezed even harder before releasing her wrist.

Pulling it to her chest immediately, cradling her wrist in her other arm, she shot him the best glare she could muster. Silence engulfed them once again. She silently examined her wrist, gently twisting and bending it in different directions, trying to assess the damage.  
He simply continued to watch the television and smoke his cigarette like nothing had happened.

When he went out to check the cemetery grounds later that night, she didn't go with him and he didn't ask her to come. Silent tears began to flow down her cheeks as the door closed behind him. She wanted to grab her stuff and run. She wanted to quit. She wanted to burn his eyes out with his cigarettes…but that hurt, that anger was exactly what he wanted. And she wasn't about to let him win.

Taking a deep breath to compose herself, she wiped the tears from her face before he returned. His re-entry was announced by the door slamming shut once again.

"Anything?" She asked, with a voice as steady as the rock statues outside.

"No."

He walked back to the couch, grabbed his ratty backpack he had stashed at the side of it and slipped up the stairs.

She didn't hear or see him for the rest of the shift…

The next morning, when it was time to head to the front of the cemetery, he still wasn't downstairs waiting to run out the door like he usually was. She wanted to bolt out of that place so bad. The pain and slight bruising on her wrist a constant reminder of what had transpired the night before. However, she couldn't help but wonder what he was doing up there.  
In the entire six months she had worked with him, she had never seen him sleep, so that was out of the equation. He wasn't up there with another girl either…so she couldn't help but wonder.

She silently crept up the stairs, gracefully avoiding the parts where they creaked. The bedroom door was cracked open, but not wide enough for her to see in completely. Through the crack, she saw his legs. Watching for a few minutes to see if he moved, she couldn't help but get an eerie feeling by how still he was.  
Lifting the door slightly by the handle, she pushed it open without a single creak.

He was sitting on the floor, his back supported by the bed. His head was lolled back and slightly to the side and there was a thin layer of sweat on his exposed skin. On the floor next to him she found a syringe, a spoon, and a lighter.

Her hair stood up on her arms and the back of her neck…what the hell was he doing to himself?

She wanted to walk out. She wanted to leave him there and wallow in whatever drug induced coma he had put himself in. Examining her wrist in the morning sunlight, she tried to think of as many reasons to just leave him there as she could.  
He wouldn't think twice about leaving her, he would just do it.  
He had physically hurt her for no reason.  
He didn't care about her, her life, or what she has been through; and didn't care to learn either.

Closing her eyes and leaning her head against the doorframe, she took a deep breath and repeated the Hippocratic Oath to herself_. __I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug. I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure. I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm…_

Swearing under her breath, she knew what she had to do. She could not walk away from him with a clean conscious. If she walked away now, she would be just like him.

Cursing once again, she went down to the end of the hallway, pulled out her cell phone and dialed Baki at the main office. The temptation to spill everything to him was overwhelming, but she knew that it wouldn't help. The phone rang a few times before he answered.  
"This is Baki."  
"Hi…it's Sakura" she started with an uneasy voice.  
"Hey Sakura! Everything alright? You're usually up here by now."  
"Yeah…I know. Um, could you clock me out? I'm exhausted and could really use a few hours of sleep. Do you mind if I do it here?"  
"Not at all. Get some rest. Anything to report?"  
Looking back at the bedroom, she shook her head. "No, nothing happened last night."  
"Good. Get some rest and I'll see you later."  
"Thanks Baki, later."

She ended the call immediately and walked into the bedroom. She kneeled down next to him to fully examine his condition.  
She first checked his pulse, although a little irregular, it was beating strong.  
Grabbing his wrist to look at his fingernails, she noted that his skin, although sweaty was slightly cool. The inner part of his forearm was scabbed and had dried blood on it.  
She checked his lips and fingernails, none were blue.  
She watched his chest to be sure that he was breathing on his own. His breathe was slightly shallow, but he was at least breathing.  
Diagnosing him with an acute overdose, all she needed to do was observe him to make sure he didn't get worse. Thankfully, she didn't have to call Baki again and tell him to call 911.

Sitting down on the floor with a heavy sigh, she surveyed the room. The drug paraphernalia was on his left. To his right was a half-empty fifth of whiskey and an ashtray with a full cigarette that burned on its own down to the filter.

"You're an idiot." She said under her breath, silently wondering if she said it to him or herself.

Pushing herself off of the floor, she went downstairs to grab herself and him a cup of water. Scouring the fridge for some edible food, and finding none; she resigned herself to the cereal she had stashed in a cupboard a few weeks ago.  
Grabbing the box, some cereal fell onto the floor. Upon inspection, she noticed chew holes at the bottom of the box. Apparently, some mice decided her cereal was better than the food in the fridge as well. Throwing the box of cereal into the garbage can, she stomped to where she had left her medical books and began to scoop them up.

A low creak sounded from above her. She stopped in her bent over position and listened. Another creak, someone was moving upstairs.

"Gaara?" she called hesitantly. One part of her brain told her it was not possible for him to be up and moving around from the condition she had left him in. The other part told her there was no one else in the house and it had to be him.

"Gaara! This isn't funny!" she yelled as she heard another creak sound above her.

Standing up with her books in her arms, she watched as dust floated down from the ceiling and danced in the sunlight.

Her return to the upstairs room was slower this time, hesitant as her heart pounded in her chest. Reaching the bedroom door, she found it exactly as she had left it. Slowly climbing onto the bed, she listened for any noises…nothing.

"Pull yourself together girl…" she whispered under her breath as she opened one of her books and began reading to distract herself.

* * *

A low groan woke her up. The page in her book that she had fallen asleep on was stuck to her face. She slowly sat up and silently watched him come to.

His movements were slow, testing. She watched as he slowly bent his knees to his chest and gingerly sat up, supporting himself with his elbows on his knees. Grabbing his head, he moaned once again as he ran his hands through his hair. He reached to his right, apparently searching for his pack of cigarettes; he didn't actually look to his right until his fingers hit the glass of water she had placed on the floor next to him. He stared at it for a few seconds before he started to look around the room.  
She watched as surprise, recognition, understanding, and anger went through his face as he shifted his body to face her.

"What're you doing here?" He asked, only anger left on his face.  
His emotions were full, complete, and raw. She could read him like a book. But right now she was starving, sleep deprived, and _extremely_ angry.  
"Hello Sakura, how are you?" she mocked, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.  
"Thank you for making sure I was alright. Thank you for not calling the police. Thank you for sacrificing your day to stay here with me since I am a total and complete _moron_!" She picked up her textbook and threw it at him. It hit his shins and landed with a loud thud to the floor.

"I didn't ask you to stay."  
"But it's not like I had a choice, was it? You know I can't just leave someone like that! I mean, what were you thinking? If you have a death wish, fine! Go ahead and die! But make sure you crawl into one of the open graves outside before you do it so no one has the hassle of cleaning up the mess you leave behind!"

It felt like there was a rattlesnake curled within her bowels. Curling tighter around itself at a coming intruder, shaking its rattle hastily. She was breathing hard, the anger only growing stronger as she yelled, and the fact that he was just staring impassively at her throughout her rant didn't help either.

He broke his stare and brought his attention to the book she had thrown at him. Examining the cover and flipping through the pages he asked, "Are you some kind of doctor, or something?"

The complete change of subject threw her off guard. He seemed completely unphased by her anger. "Or something." She responded.  
"Did you fail out?"  
"No." she said, shaking her head. "I…never mind why I'm here!"  
"Fine. I don't really care anyways." He tossed the book to the floor again and grabbed the glass of water on the floor.  
In four easy gulps, the glass was empty. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he moved to standup.

"Stop! You have to take it easy…" she said as she moved to stop him.  
Throwing her a glare, he stood up anyways. His movements were unsteady, hesitive. "I need more water." He stated simply as he took an uneasy step to the door.  
"Let me get it for you. You should sit back down."  
"Right." He said, not stopping his movements.  
She cut him off at the door, blocking his exit.  
"Move."  
"Sit back down."  
"You really think you can stop me?"  
Looking over his shoulder to make sure his route was clear, she looked back at him and said, "Yes, I think I can." Pushing her finger as hard into his chest as she could, she watched him step back, stumble, and land on the bed.  
The door behind her slammed shut, shaking the walls and floor with its force.

Sakura's hair stood on end as a chill crept up her spine. Her fears were only confirmed when she looked back at Gaara and his eyes were wide with shock.

"I told you to let me get it." He stated simply as he repositioned himself on the bed, pulling his legs into a cross-legged position.

Pointing behind her at the door, she asked, "What was that?"

"What was what?" he asked as he flipped through another one of her books.

"Don't play dumb with me! I know you saw that."

"Are you sure you don't do drugs?" he asked as he peered over the book's pages.

"Listen to me!" she yelled. "I have been her all night. I could have left you, I could have made your life a living hell by bringing a tirade of police here, I could have told Baki. But I didn't. I'm not leaving until I'm satisfied that you're alright. So sit down, shut up, and let me get you another glass of water!"

The door creaked open behind her. The chill ran deeper through her this time.

The glare he was giving the door was of utter malice and betrayal.

She grabbed the cup from his hand and turned to go downstairs. Running the glass under the water from the facet, she took deep, steadying breathes. Cupping her hands under the running water, she watched as it filled her hands up, ran over the sides, and pattered into the sink once again. Running the cold water over her face, she kept telling herself she was only sleep deprived and in need of mental and social stimulation.

By the time she got back upstairs, Gaara had found something that caught his interest in her medical books. Judging by the diagrams she could see, he was reading about the human mind.

"Here." She said, shoving the glass back into his hands.  
He drank this one slower, staring at her over the glass the entire time. When he finished, he said, "Did you know that the brain controls the entire body. It will shut down organ after organ just to keep itself alive. At any given moment, it could just decide to take over and kill you."

Shifting her weight from one foot to the next, she said, "And?"

"And, this doesn't change anything."

Letting out a low huff, she responded with, "If the mind, that rules the body, ever so far forgets itself as to trample on its slave, the slave is never generous enough to forgive the injury, but will rise and smite the oppressor."

"Oooo, did you read that in a big fancy book _doctor_?" The way he said the word doctor made her skin crawl.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I did."

"Well then, good for you. You actually learned something with all that money you spent."

Through clenched teeth she said, "From now on, you will respect the fact that I am in this house with you. No more shooting up in the house, no more girls sleeping over, and cut the smoking down so the air in here is actually breathable. In fact, you can smoke outside."

"Keep dreaming."

"Unless you want me to tell everyone what transpired here today, you'll do it."

"I don't need a dropout telling me what to do. Just because you failed in life doesn't mean you have the right to control mine."

The snake had stopped rattling…she felt it uncurl and strike up from her stomach into her chest, taking control of her body. Her hand seemed to have a mind of its own, since it moved independently against her reasoning. The smack seemed to echo throughout the room. She immediately braced herself for his reaction…but it never came. The redness from her slap grew on his cheek as he stared at the wall. His jaw clenched and unclenched as he stared silently.

"Leave." He said quietly.  
"I…" she started, but didn't know where to go from there. She had never hit someone before, had never been angry enough before to do so, and she honestly didn't know what to say.  
"_LEAVE!" _he yelled at her.  
She turned on her heel and practically ran to the door.  
She walked briskly down the path to the front of the cemetery. In the distance she heard a loud crack and a thud, followed by chainsaws roaring to life. _The day crew must be tearing down one of the dead trees…_she thought to herself as she quickened her pace.  
Unsteadily she shoved her keys into the back office door and opened it at quietly as she could, praying that Baki wasn't around to talk to her.  
He was in his office, talking with a family. The woman was wiping tears from her face with a tissue, the man next to her had an arm around her shoulder and was holding her other hand firmly. Baki looked at her and nodded, Sakura simply nodded back. So much sorrow surrounded this place, she wondered how anyone could do this job day after day.

Quietly pushing the front door open, not to disturb the grieving family, she waiting until she closed it behind her before she bolted for her car.  
Turning the keys in the ignition, roaring the engine to life, she paused to look at the car's clock. It was already 3:00…she only had a few hours before she had to be back here. The idea of facing Gaara so soon after everything that had transpired overwhelmed her, and she tried not to think of how he was going to get even with her. Shaking her head to rid herself of those thoughts, she threw her car in reverse and pulled out of the parking lot. Right now, all she needed was a hot meal and someplace quiet so she could piece back together her sanity.


	6. Chapter 6

Hello All! As expected, it took me FOREVER to update...Once i'm done moving, i hope to be able to write more often. Read and review! Thank you! :-)

* * *

Sakura stared blankly ahead as she sped down the road. She had been pushed to the point where her most basic instincts had kicked in. She had fought, fled, and was now so emotionally drained she didn't have an ounce of energy left to process her surroundings. She wasn't sure how fast she was going, but she knew it was well over the speed limit. The world had turned into a surrealistic image rushing past her car, the buildings and trees blurred together in incomprehensible swirls.

It wasn't until she hit the first red light that she was forced back to reality. Slamming on the breaks, her car squealed in protest. She had been forced to stop, forced to confront the building pressure that was slowly rising in her chest. She pounded the wheel with the heel of her fist. The tightening of her chest lessened slightly, so she did it again, and again, and again. Her hand began to hurt, but she didn't care. She hit the wheel with all her strength until hot tears started to run down her cheeks. Emotions came and went as she sat at the red light and cried, but only one thing kept rising to the forefront of her mind: Gaaa's face marked with her handprint. She hit the wheel again as she cried harder.

What had happened? It had all spun out of control so fast she wasn't even sure of what was said between them. She hated him and she hated herself…but she hated him more for bringing out this side of her. Taking a deep, shaky breathe, she wiped the tears from her face. She had to focus, she had to concentrate on the present. The light turned green and she took another deep breath before she gently placed her foot on the pedal once again.

Her car slowly and gently continued onward. She had to focus, she had to pull herself together, and more importantly, she had to find some food!

She began to scan the side of the road for a restaurant, any restaurant, someplace where she could sit down and relax. She began to lose hope when all she saw was fast-food places and pizza joints. Then, as if the clouds had parted and a ray of light pointed her in the right direction, she saw exactly what she was looking for, a small, family-style restaurant. Switching lanes immediately, earning her a few people honking their car horns at her, she swirled into the small parking lot and sped into an open spot.

The restaurant was small, quiet, and considerably empty…exactly what the doctor ordered. In bold white letters against a brown background a sign at the door read "Please, seat yourself". Sakura found a small, two-seater booth against the window. As if in autopilot, she walked briskly to the table and sat down with a loud thud. Pulling out a menu that was wedged between the condiments and the wall, Sakura scanned for something cheap and comforting. In the middle of deciding between the macaroni and cheese or pancakes a rough, yet familiar voice broke her train of thought, "What can I get you?"

The way the question was said spoke volumes. The line sounded rehearsed, forced. And the tone blatantly echoed the fact that the waitress didn't really want to help Sakura at all.

"Temari?" Sakura said quietly, afraid the girl wouldn't recognize her.

Looking up from her notepad for the first time, Temari's face changed from annoyed, to confused, to (almost) happy.

"Well, look at what the night shift dragged in! Glad to see you're still hanging in there…why do you look like total shit?"

"Gee…thanks." Sakura responded as she attempted to run her fingers through her hair, only to have them get caught in tangles halfway through. She didn't even need a mirror to know that her eyes were red and puffy.

Smirking slightly, Temari asked sincerely, "What can I get you?"

"Pancakes." Sakura stated.

"Anything…"

"With chocolate chips, whipped cream, and a cup of coffee."

Smirking once again, Temari quickly jotted down her order. "You got it."

* * *

The pile of pancakes sat like a mountain in front of her. The whipped cream was slowly turning to liquid, and her coffee had long since grown cold. She had been so hungry, but now the thought of food made her want to vomit. The stress of the day was taking its toll on her. The ticking of the clock next to her on the wall tightened the knot in her stomach more and more, a constant reminder of the fact that she would have to return to the cemetery soon.

Groaning as she tightened her arms around her stomach, she rested her head against the edge of the table.

"Either this is the weirdest diet I have ever seen, or there's something wrong with your food."

Turning her head to the side, Sakura saw Termari once again standing next to her table, tapping her fingers impatiently against her hip.

"The food is fine. I'm just not hungry anymore."

Sighing loudly, Temari sat down opposite of Sakura. "So tell me, what did he do this time?"

"Nothing." Sakura said shortly as she attempted to sip at her coffee. The cold, bitter liquid exploded on her tongue, causing her to cough and spit the fluid back into the cup.

"Charming."

Sakura wiped her mouth with a napkin as she felt blood rush to her cheeks.

"I didn't know you worked here." Sakura chatted lightly, trying to recover gracefully. "I mean, and don't take this the wrong way, you don't really strike me as the waitressing type."

"Oh, trust me, I'm not." Temari smirked. "But a job is a job, and the tips are decent enough. Leaning back in the seat, propping her elbows behind her, "Plus my schedule is flexible and I'm closer to my brothers here so I can keep an eye on them." She added with a wink.

Sakura forced herself to smile, but looked down at her pancakes once again. She felt as Temari placed her elbows on the table again, crossing them across her chest.

"Want me to talk to him?"

"No…it won't help."

"Are you sure? He's usually more susceptible when he's hungry…"

Throwing Temari a confused look, she followed her gaze out to the parking lot. A slouched over figure was walking briskly to the front door of the restaurant, hood pulled over his head, one hand in his hoodie pocket, the other holding a lit cigarette.

A moment of fear engulfed Sakura as her entire world came to a sliding halt. He was most certainly still pissed about her hitting him, not to mention that she was sitting at a table with his sister…she didn't know the girl very well, but she had a feeling that poor anger management skills ran in the family.

Snapping her gaze back to Temari, she found her studying her reaction.

"Hn." Was all the blonde woman had to say before she removed herself from the table.

Sakura watched in horror as she made her way to the front counter, greeting Gaara as he walked through the door. As if second nature for her, Temari immediately grabbed the cigarette from his hand and threw it out the door as it slowly shut, she said loud enough for Sakura to hear.

"Sorry, we got slammed tonight so your food isn't ready. Have a seat and I'll put the order in now." Motioning toward Sakura's table.

Gaara followed his sister's motion, noticed Sakura, then turned to leave.

"Where do you think you're going?" His sister asked, rushing in front of him to block the door.

"I'm leaving."

"What about your dinner?"

"Not hungry."

"Right…have you even eaten all day?"

"Move."

"No."

Sakura watched as Gaara's hands tightened into fists as his sister pushed the hood off his head. A moment of intense silenced filled the small space between the two.

Sighing loudly, Gaara's hands relaxed at his side. "Fine. The usual."

"You got it," Temari said as she all but pushed Gaara over to Sakura's table and forced him to sit down.

Sakura quickly scanned his face. There wasn't a red mark anymore, his face had returned to its normal, pale state. When he turned his head to stare at her, she immediately dropped her gaze to her uneaten pancakes.

His stare made her uneasy, using her peripheral vision, she could tell that he wasn't going to stop glaring at her until his food came.

"Want some pancakes?" Sakura offered, trying to break the silence.

The way his glare intensified at her question gave her his emphatic answer.

Taking a deep breath and scrounging up all the courage and strength she had left, she turned and glared right back at him.

"You should probably eat something now while you wait for your food. It'll help your body recover from earlier."

"Is that your medical opinion, _doctor_?"

Anger bristled up her neck immediately, "That's common sense, asshole."

Sitting back and slouching in his seat, Gaara pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

"You can't smoke in here."

Exhaling directly into her face he said, "See if I care."

"Tell me, Gaara, did you sit down just so you could get some free food or was it to piss me off before I get to spend all night with your pathetic self again?"

Putting his cigarette out directly into her pancakes he replied, "Neither. I sat down to get Temari away from the door. Pissing you off was an added bonus."

With that, he stood up, walked briskly to the door and slipped out all before Sakura could blink. She watched as he pulled his hood up over his head again and shoved his hands back into his pockets, making a quick and safe distance between them.

"Damn." She heard a voice next to her say as a white plastic bag with carryout containers in it was placed next to her. "And it looked like it was going so well too."

A look of shock and disgust washed over Sakura's face as she stared up at Temari. "You're kidding, right?"

"Heh, that's the nicest I've seen him act around people other than Kankurou and myself."

The look must have intensified because Temari rolled her eyes. "Look, I warned you about him the first night I met you. The fact that you're still around and willing to pick a fight with him goes to show that he's been taking it easy on you…I would even go as far to say that I think my baby brother likes you."

"I think I'm going to be sick…" Sakura said, feeling the color drain from her face.

"Do me a favor, take this back to the cemetery with you. He looks paler than usual which means he's probably back to his old habits again, he'll need the food."

Sakura's facial expression immediately changed.

"Ah, so that's what happened…" Temari said. "Let me guess, OD'd again?"

Sakura's mouth was open as she slowly nodded her head.

Sighing heavily, Temari shook her head, "I just don't know what to do with him anymore. It seems like as soon as he takes a step forward, he takes ten giant leaps back…" Turning to look fully at Sakura, she added, "Do me a favor, keep an eye on him for me and call me as soon as something happens."

She could feel the anger and exhaustion mix and rise up from her stomach, grabbing hold of her tongue and taking control of it. "I will not keep an eye on him for you! I am _not_ his babysitter and that is _not_ what I'm getting paid to do!"

A look of shock and then angry indifference contorted Temari's face. "Fine," she said as she turned and threw a wave over her shoulder.

"Temari," Sakura called after her. Turning around and placing her hands on her hips again, she waited for Sakura to continue.

"Enabling the problem isn't helping him. He needs help, _professional _help, not his family sweeping everything under the rug and pretending that there's nothing wrong! He's going to end up killing himself if you don't do something!"

Walking briskly back to Sakura's table, Temari loomed over her and stated quietly yet firmly, "And I don't need a stranger who knows nothing about what our family has been through telling me how I should help _my_ baby brother."

Pushing off the table, causing her coffee to swish back and forth and spill over the cup, Temari disappeared behind the kitchen doors.

_What is wrong with this family! They're all insane! _Sakura thought to herself as she got up from the table as well. Throwing some money on the table for her uneaten food, she got up to walk out the door. Hesitating for a second, she sighed and grabbed the bag of carryout before she returned to her car.

Returning to the house, Gaara wasn't there. And, judging by the faint smell of day-old cigarette smoke, hadn't been there at all.

Flopping down on the couch after placing the food in the fridge, Sakura let her exhaustion wash over her and take her to the welcome abyss of sleep.

She was walking through the cemetery, hitting her flashlight against her palm, trying to stop it from flickering. The sound of crickets roared in her ears as she watched in horror as her flashlight slowly started to faded. As soon as her light went out, panic started to consume her. She felt eyes watching her, heard voices whispering around her, and the crickets seemed to grow louder and louder. Covering her ears to block out the sounds, she crammed her eyes closed, willing everything to stop…and, to her surprise, it did. Slowly lowering her hands from her ears, she scanned the area. Everything was the same, the noises had just simply stopped.  
"Over here." A voice rang out from the silence. It was a woman's voice, nonthreatening yet eerie.  
"Who's there?" she called out, her voice sounding quiet and small compared to the voice she had just heard. The sound of a woman laughing followed her question, coming from deep within the woods.  
Dropping her flashlight to the ground, she started to walk toward where the laughter was coming from. Pushing herself through the thick overgrowth, she felt as branches grabbed onto her hair and clothes, almost like they were begging her to stop walking.  
"Don't stop, you're almost there."  
"Who's there!" Sakura yelled this time, trying desperately to free herself from the trees and brambles she was tied up in. Losing her footing, she tripped and fell, only to fall into overgrown grass. Looking at her feet, she saw a distinct line of where the woods stopped and an open field began. Standing up and brushing herself off, she squinted at her surroundings, using the moon as her only source of light.  
She heard the laughter again, only this time it was a lot closer.  
Following the sound, she navigated herself around another growth of trees before she came to another clearing. There was a woman standing in the middle of the field, her back to Sakura, staring at something on the ground.  
"Hello?" Sakura called out, slowly approaching the woman. Either the woman hadn't heard her or she was ignoring her because she didn't even move.  
"This is private property, if you don't leave the grounds immediately, I will call the police."  
She was getting closer to the woman, close enough to smell the faint smell of perfume on the wind.  
"I've been waiting for you." Sakura heard a voice say, but it was all around her, not coming directly from the woman standing in front of her.  
"Who are you?" Sakura asked quietly, dread quickly building in her chest.  
That's when the woman turned around, that's when Sakura saw that the woman was dressed in a hospital gown…and that's when Sakura saw the blood covering her.  
Reaching out her arms toward Sakura, the woman spoke without moving her mouth, "You have to help me!"  
Sakura lost her footing and fell backwards.  
"Help me!"  
The woman pleaded, and that's when Sakura screamed.

Waking with a jolt in a pitch black house, Sakura was covered in sweat. Scanning her surroundings quickly, she noticed that nothing had moved from where she had left them and that she was still sitting on the couch. Taking deep breathes to calm herself down, she couldn't help but notice that the smell of stale cigarettes was almost nonexistent in the air but a faint, dying smell of perfume still clung there.

_No way. There's no way._ She thought to herself.

Looking at her watch, it was well past time for her to run her rounds of the cemetery. Grabbing her coat off the floor, and double checking the batteries in her flashlight, Sakura stepped out of the house to start her rounds.

After making one complete lap around the entire area with no intruders or out of body voices to bother her, she started to make her way back to the house.

_Get a hold of yourself!_ she berated herself, shaking her head side to side. _It was just a dream!_

The sound of a branch cracking to her right caused her to jump as her heart rate began to race once again. Scanning the surroundings with her flashlight, she saw a raccoon waddle its way out of the woods and run along the edge of the trees. Shaking her head once again at her own jumpiness, she started walking again.

Slowing to a stop once again, she slowly brought her flashlight to the woods next to her. She couldn't help but notice the similarities between the trees next to her and the ones in her dream.

_What's wrong with me? I used to be a rational person, able to separate dreams from reality…_

Half expecting to hear the woman's voice again, she all but let her feet start walking on their own.  
The branches scraped against her exposed neck and stuck in her hair, sharp thorns from the bushes on the ground clung desperately at her jeans. As if in a daze, she just kept walking. She wasn't even surprised when she came across the field. She noticed the same grouping of trees and froze in her spot. This was real, this was really happening right now…there was no possible way a dead woman would be standing around the corner.

Walking slower now, she forced herself around the corner and froze at what she found. There, lying in the overgrown grass where the woman had been standing in Sakura's dream, was Gaara. He was laying on his stomach sound asleep, using his arms as a pillow, his hoodie rising and falling at his steady breathing. In all the nights she had worked with him, she had never seen him sleep, she had even started to believe that he just didn't sleep at all.  
But why here? Of all places he had to sleep, why would he choose an area that, judging by the look of things, hadn't been taken care of in years, if not decades? And why would she dream about this place?

Scanning her surroundings with the flashlight, she saw old, crumbling graves littering the ground. As she walked slowly toward the sleeping Gaara, she froze when she noticed a headstone in front of him. He was lying right where a casket would be placed. Moving as quietly as she could, she stepped over him, making sure not to disturb him in anyway. She noticed dead flowers on the ground, as well as fresh ones, their bright colors mocking the brown tones of the decaying ones. The headstone looked newer than the surrounding ones as well. It also looked like it was well taken care of, there wasn't a stray leaf or branch around it. Looking down at the sleeping man again, she couldn't help but wonder at the reasons why he was there. She noticed that a strand of hair had fallen into his eyes and a slow smile started to spread across her face. He looked so innocent, almost childlike, when he slept. Gently removing the offending strand of hair from his face, she tucked it behind his ear. "Why are you out here?" she whispered to his sleeping form.

His nose scrunched slightly and he shifted one of his arms to reach out in front of him. In his sleep, he gently rubbed his fingers against the cold stone of the grave.

Sakura switched her gaze to the headstone in front of her. Running her hand over the face of the stone, she made out the name, _Karura._


	7. Chapter 7

Yes, yes, yes...i know, i know...once again, it's taken me FOREVER to update. :-(  
I seriously re-wrote this chapter at least six different times, and i'm still not entirely happy with it. but i'm sick of looking at it and just want to move on. so here it is, for better or for worse.  
Read and review! any feedback is a giant help. Thank you all for your continued patience with me!

* * *

Deciding that her current form of action against Gaara wasn't working, and deciding that she didn't want to go prematurely gray, she decided to change up her routine: give him space.  
When he was sitting on the couch watching TV, she would sit at the kitchen table and review her textbooks.  
When they went on their rounds, she would start off in the opposite direction, meet him in the middle, and then continue on until they reached the house again.  
She didn't complain that she was slowly suffocating from his cigarette smoke, instead, she simply opened a window.  
She didn't ask questions about his long absences some nights and not once did she mention what she had seen the night she found him in the field.  
She found that the results made her work environment somewhat…pleasant.

This didn't mean, of course, that Gaara was taking it easy on her. It seemed that the more she tried to form a truce between them, the more he tried to push her buttons.

One night, she decided that something must have happened outside of work to really set him off since he was grumpier than ever, and smoking cigarettes like they were oxygen; to the extent where he would light up another one before he was done smoking the one he was on.  
Within an hour, the entire house was clouded in thick cigarette smoke that stung her eyes and burned her throat. Stifling a cough behind her hand, she opened a window, reveling in the cool, fresh air that billowed through it.  
Her relief was short lived however, when almost as soon as she had opened it, Gaara rushed over and slammed it shut.

"I can't breathe." She protested, opening the window once again.

"I'm cold." He shot back, closing it harder this time.

Narrowing her eyes she said through clenched teeth, "Then put a blanket on."

"If you want fresh air so bad, go outside."

Pinching the bridge of her nose, she said "I am _trying_ to make this work…"

Giving only a smirk in response, he lit up another cigarette, exhaled slowly and said, "The window stays closed."

Shooting daggers at his back as he sat back down on the couch, she made the split decision to make a hasty retreat upstairs. Grabbing the current textbook she was reading, she stomped her feet loudly up the stairs mumbling to herself about self-medicating and did not come back downstairs until she heard him leave the next morning.

* * *

The next night, Sakura entered the house only to find Gaara balled up on the couch with a pillow over his head.  
Glancing at the almost empty ashtray, she could tell something was wrong. Her mind immediately switched to doctor mode, diagnosing him with every possible ailment that could be plaguing him. Wishing silently to herself that he didn't OD and kill himself this time, she swiftly went to check on him.

"Gaara…" she asked softly as she kneeled down next to the couch.  
She was greeted with angry, half-lidded eyes that peaked out from underneath the pillow.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." He said grumpily, as he pulled the pillow tightly over his head.

"Can I get you anything?"

"Yeah, you can leave me alone."

Pushing herself off the ground with her hands, she stood up and folded her arms in front of her chest, "Just as long as you don't die, I will."

"Like you care." Came the muffled response from underneath the pillow.

When she didn't move, she heard him sigh and mumble again.

"I'm just hungover" he muttered from underneath the pillow, but all Sakura heard was muffled noises.

"What?"

Pulling the pillow off of his head, he said loudly, "I'm hungover! You know, when you drink and do drugs in an excessive amount? HUNGOVER! It doesn't take a fucking degree to figure it out!" He grimaced at his yelling and curled up into a ball again on the couch.

"I know what a hangover is…" she muttered as she made her way to the kitchen again. A part of her, a _very big_ part of her, wanted to start pounding pots and pans together, but decided against it.

When it was time to start doing the rounds, she didn't even bother trying to wake him up.  
"I'm heading out to the grounds." She yelled as she zipped up her jacket.  
She shut the door behind her just in time to block the empty beer can he threw at her.

Once again, the cemetery was uneventful and empty. She was starting to wonder if the place ever even _had_ a history of trespassers, or if Baki just created the job to keep Gaara out of trouble.  
Sakura found it sad that she had the layout of the cemetery down to a science already. To her, it wasn't an achievement, but simply a sign that she had been out of the medical field for far too long. She kept telling herself that something would have to give eventually, but keeping that attitude was getting harder and harder as the weeks flew by.

Lost deep in her train of thought, she hadn't even noticed that she was subconsciously walking toward the hidden field where she had found Gaara. As if on cue, the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck started to stand up, causing her skin to prickle and itch as it tightened.  
_Get a hold of yourself, Sakura. There's no such thing as ghosts.  
_Repeating that over and over again, as if it was her new mantra, she forced her eyes closed and focused on silencing her mind in order to listen fully to her surroundings. When all that greeted her ears was the sound of the wind moving through the trees and crickets chirping, she opened her eyes once again.  
_See? _She told herself as a small smile crept across her face, _there's nothing out here_.

Heartened by her discovery, she started to turn back toward the house.  
The sound of a branch cracking behind her made her scream and turn around, shining her flashlight frantically at the wall of trees that greeted her.  
_There's no such thing as ghosts, there's no such thing as ghosts…_is the only thought she would allow into her mind as she scanned the trees more slowly with her flashlight. She continued to scan the area as she slowly began to back away in her retreat. That is, until she fell over an old, broken headstone and found herself staring up at the night sky.

Hot, angry tears began to well up in her eyes as her ankle started to throb. All of the constant emotions she went through and all of the egg shells she walked upon every single night were starting to take their toll. She had _never _been that girl that cried whenever something didn't go her way, but this place was starting to change that. She was frustrated with herself, frustrated with her work environment, and angry that this is what her life was becoming. She had worked so hard every single day to make herself the best, and for what? To become the night groundskeeper at an old cemetery? It just wasn't fair…

The tears began to flood down her cheeks and hit the grass in front of her. And for once, she let them. She wasn't going to stop them or hold them back this time. Letting out a low sob, she dropped her head into her hands. An echo of the sound she had just made came from in front of her, and just like that, she was back in survival mode.

"Who's there?" she yelled loudly, snapping out of her self-loathing immediatly. She wasn't exactly expecting a response back, but then, who really does in that situation?  
_It was just an echo_ she thought, not even believing herself.  
The sound drifted to her again, and this time she could definitely make out the sound of a woman crying. The cry was so sad and heart wrenching, it took everything inside of her not to go see if someone really was in need of help.  
"Leave me alone!" she shouted at the woods as she stood up and started her way back to the house. If it weren't for the slight limp and the sharp pain she had shoot up her leg every time she took a step, she would have bolted for the house.

All of her fear and anxiety washed away as the lights of the house came into view…that is until she noticed that_ all_ of the lights were on and someone was energetically walking around.  
There was _no way_ Gaara was walking around, he was too miserable when she had left, and she hadn't been gone that long.

Walking as fast to the house as her injured limb would allow, a multitude of scenarios flashed through her mind:  
Gaara had become possessed by a pleasant, polite ghost.  
Baki finally realized what was going on during the night, had fired Gaara, and replaced him immediately.  
Gaara's constant drug abuse had altered his personality and he was now the exact opposite of what he was before.  
The police finally came to arrest him, found the drugs on his person, and were now raiding the house in order to pin more charges on him.  
Someone had broken into the cemetery, killed Gaara, and was waiting for her to return…she slowed her pace at that last thought and immediately halted the hand that was reaching for the door knob.  
_It's probably one of his siblings…_she tried to convince herself as she silently opened the front door.

Out of all the scenarios she could have thought of, she couldn't have come up with something as perfect and revengeful as the scene that greeted her…

Gaara was still sitting on the couch, leaning against the arm of it, cradling his head in his hands.  
A blonde chick with a very short skirt, a tight shirt that hugged her obviously fake boobs, and cherry red lipstick was chattering away next to him on the couch. Sakura had no idea what the girl was talking about, however, she heard the words "um" and "like" a lot.

Trying not to laugh at her coworker's obvious misery, she let her presence be known.

"Um, hi…" the girl said slowly, looking at Gaara and then looking back at her.  
"My friend said that you were, like, into some weird things but…um, she never mentioned anything about another chick. Of course, I've never had a threesome before… I guess it could kinda be fun."

Sakura, smiling at the fact that she could visibly see Gaara wince at the girl's high-pitched voice and bury his fingers deeper into his hair, chimed in cheerfully. "What's your name?"

"Ashley, but my friends like, call me Ash. But I hate it because it totally sounds like a dude's name."

"I bet you do…" Sakura said smugly, her eyes trailing over to Gaara.  
The look he was giving her from underneath his half covered face said _everything._ He was definitely going to make her life a living hell for this.  
Deciding that she was going to have a little fun for once in her miserable existence here, she figured she would give Gaara a taste of his own medicine.  
Returning her attention back to the girl, who was now tapping her heeled foot loudly onto the wooden floor and popping her bubble gum in boredom, she asked, "So…what brings you out here?"

"Well, my friend, Amy…you remember her, right?"  
She started poking Gaara hard in the shoulder, trying to earn his attention.

"Yeah…" he said slowly, giving the girl what she wanted. But Sakura knew that he had _no_ idea which girl "Amy" was.

"Well, she like told me about this _awesome_ night she had with this guy out in a cemetery. And I was like totally bored tonight, so she told me where to go. She even told me how to get in! It was so cool! I felt like I was breaking the law!"

"You are." Sakura said flatly.

"Yeah…but you guys aren't going to like call the cops are anything…right?"

Sakura could feel the shift in Gaara's mood immediately. It went from not feeling well and angry, to extremely agitated and angry. It was as if the atmosphere inside of the entire house shifted and twisted.

"Look…Amanda…" he started.

"It's um, Ashley. But all my friends call me Ash…"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Look, I really don't feel that well tonight. So, I think it would be better if you just left."

The look the girl gave him was one of confusion and anger, "But…I um, just got here!"

Sakura could tell that prying the girl away from this place was going to be excruciating…and she was loving every single moment of it.

Gaara continued, more sweetly this time, "Ashley…I'm _really_ not feeling all too well…"  
Sakura almost physically gagged at the pout that graced his mouth.  
"Besides, I really don't think my girlfriend would appreciate us messing around. Especially since she came all the way out here just to make me feel better…"

A silent "Oh" formed on the girl's mouth as she brought her attention to Sakura again.  
"I, um, didn't realize…I'm totally sorry! My friend didn't mention that he was dating someone…but I'm sure they messed around before you guys started dating…I mean…um…"

Grinding her teeth together violently at the new role she had just been given, Sakura returned as sweetly as she could, "It's no problem…really. Gaara and I have an open relationship."

As if on cue, Gaara chimed in, "Oh, but honey…I thought you said we were going to try just the two of us for a while to see how things worked out?"  
If she already didn't know that there wasn't an _ounce _of niceness in the man, she would have bought the sweet and innocent look he was giving her.

"I thought we agreed we were going to start that _next_ month?" she forced through gritted teeth.

"I really want to start now…I want us to work…I love you."

It almost sounded genuine…almost. But Sakura was sure the bimbo sitting next to him on the couch couldn't tell the difference.

"Um…I guess I'll leave you guys alone then…" the blonde said as she stood up from the couch.

Gaara started to agree with her, but Sakura chimed in, "No, please stay. He's not feeling well and I could really use some help taking care of him. You know how men are when they're sick, it's like they regress back to being infants."

Letting out a laugh that could only be duplicated by dragging your nails down a chalkboard, the girl practically jumped up and down."For sure! I'd love to help! What do you want me to do?"

"In my purse there's a bottle of aspirin, could you grab that and a glass of water?"  
The girl nodded and clopped loudly into the kitchen.

Quickly clearing the distance between herself and Gaara, she snatched his cigarettes away from him.  
"What do you think you're doing?" he said through a clenched jaw.

"Helping you feel better _honey. _We both know that smoking these will only make your headache worse…and we wouldn't want that, now would we cuddle bear?"

Gaara moved to stand up from the couch when the blond re-entered the room with the items she was asked to get.  
Sakura went into the kitchen, grabbed some leftover pizza that was in it, threw it on a plate and brought it out to him.  
Handing the plate to him, she instructed, "Eat this and take two pills. Your headache will be gone soon, _sweetie._"  
Taking a bite of the pizza while staring daggers at her, he quickly chased the pills with the entire glass of water.

The rest of the night was filled with mindless chatter by their new-found friend, Ashley.  
As the night went on, Sakura began to realize that they were _never_ going to get the girl to leave and started regretting the fact that she asked her to stay. So much so in fact, part of her wanted to start playing Gaara's little game again.  
Finding herself stuck between a bimbo and an ass…she decided that the ass was the lesser of the two evils.

Sliding herself across the floor toward Gaara, eyeing him the whole time in order to judge his reaction, she gracefully and (almost) naturally slid herself between his legs and slowly rested her head on the inner part of his thigh.  
She felt his muscles tighten and go rigged from the unexpected contact, and she tried not to show alarm on her face as she waited for his reaction.  
The girl was going on and on about something she saw at the mall when, out of nowhere, Gaara grabbed Sakura, pulled her to him on the couch and began kissing her.  
Eyes wide from shock, she didn't have time to react as he smoothly pinned her under him and began to slide his hand up from her hip to her chest.

She was pinned in a way where she couldn't push him off of her, but what she could do was lift her knee and apply pressure to the area that counted the most.

Pulling away and throwing her a quick smirk, he said to the dumbfounded girl sitting across the room, "Ashley, I think it's time for you to go. I'm feeling _much_ better and I want to properly thank my girlfriend for taking _such_ good care of me." His hand made its way up under her shirt, then came down and tugged on the waste of her jeans.

"Um, alright." She said as she got up quickly. "Call me when you're bored!" she called over her shoulder.

Once the door closed behind her, Gaara brought his attention back to Sakura once again.  
"Well, this was interesting…" he said as his nails dragged gently against her skin below her bellybutton.

"You will remove your hand from my person, or I will remove it for you."

"Oh come on, don't tell me you didn't enjoy it at least a little."  
The knee that was firmly planted against his groin, pressed harder.

Tsking at her, he slowly pushed himself off her and made his way to the door. After locking it and checking to make sure it was locked, he reached for his pack of cigarettes and lit one up.  
Sitting up and crossing her legs and arms in front of her she said grumpily, "I take it you're feeling better."

"I am."

Sakura angrily drummed her fingers against her forearm, as she just stared at him. She felt violated on so many levels. Her skin was burning where he had touched her, causing goosebumps to break out on her arms and legs.

Letting out a low chuckle, he said, "Don't lie to yourself, you know you enjoyed that. When's the last time you got laid anyways?"

"My sex life is _none _of your business! And for your information, I _didn't_ enjoy being harassed and openly violated!"

"Then why did you kiss me back?" he asked as he cooley pulled a hit from his cigarette.

The floor fell out from under her, and her stomach went with it. She _hadn't_ kissed him back…had she?  
"I…I did not!" she said sitting up taller on the couch.

"Oh yes you did…your mouth tastes like peppermint."

Swallowing the gum that she was chewing immediately she said in defense, "If I did, in fact, kiss you back, it was only to make it look real so that chick would leave…I didn't want her here anymore than you did."

"Bullshit. She couldn't even see you from where she was sitting."

Pounding her balled up fists into her thighs, Sakura shouted, "I didn't kiss you back!"

"Hn."

"I swear, if you ever pull a stunt like that again I will knee you so hard you won't be able to have sex for years!"  
The look of amusement and thrill on his face wasn't helping her situation.  
"STOP looking at me like that."

"I will once you admit that you liked it."

Wanting to drop this topic immediately, she slumped back down on the couch and switched on the TV. Pretending to be absorbed in whatever show was on, she silently kept a tab on where Gaara was located as he started to shuffle around the house.  
She watched him out of her peripheral vision as he went into the kitchen to grab more pizza.  
Taking a huge bite out of the cold slice he had in his hand, she heard him chuckle and say, "You're pathetic."

"I'm sorry," she responded, not looking away from the television. "I couldn't understand you with your mouth full of food. Swallow and try again."  
He chuckled again and took an even bigger bite out of his pizza.

Finishing the whole piece in about three in a half bites, he plopped himself down on the couch next to her. Her skin began to prickle immediately at his closeness.  
"Girls are weird…" he stated and trailed off.

"And why is that?" she offered in a flat, non-committal tone.

"You're all just backwards. You spend hours making yourselves look nice, but then complain about being told that you look nice by random men. You wear revealing clothes in public, then complain that all men are dogs. You won't have sex with guys, even if you want to, because you're afraid you'll be viewed as sluts."

"Yes, we're all crazy…you've cracked the girl gene. Congratulations." Came her sarcastic response.

"If everyone just did what they wanted to do, when they wanted to do it, their lives would be easier."

"And we would all be cavemen still, constantly giving into the urges of our Id." She countered. "You can't just always do what you want. That's not how the world works."

"Says you."

"I am not having this conversation with you. Go find a bimbo to do 'weird things' with and leave me alone."

"Is that what's stopping you? You're worried I'm going to hurt you or something?"

"No, what's stopping me from having sex with you is every fiber of my being absolutely detests you and screams in protest with every breath you take because it's being wasted on you and not on someone who actually matters in the world."

"Ouch."

"Why do you care anyway? Just last night you wanted me out of here."

Shrugging his shoulders he said, "Could be interesting…I've never had sex with a coworker before."

"That's because they don't last the night." She muttered, returning her attention back to the TV.

"It would loosen you up, help you get all that aggression out…and hey, maybe you won't be such a raging bitch anymore" he offered.

Sakura could feel her eye start to twitch. _If he doesn't leave me alone in two seconds, I am going to bury my fist into his face.  
_Keeping her composure the best she could, she responded with a surprisingly even "Not even if you were the last man on the planet."

"We'll see about that." He said as stood up and grabbed his hoodie. "I can be very persuasive…"

She couldn't help but laugh at that, "Yeah I bet! I've always wanted to know what it would be like to lick an ashtray…not to mention be used then thrown out on the streets like trash the next day."

"What's wrong with your ankle?" he asked, completely taking her off guard.

"Nothing."

"Then why is it swollen?"

"It's not. Go make yourself scarce."

"You don't get to nag and bitch at me about my lifestyle choices, and then ignore your own issues. Unless, of course, you like double standards…I'm all about double standards."

"What a catch you are…" she muttered at the TV.

"Seriously though, what's wrong with your ankle, it looks disgusting."

"Leave me alone!" she yelled at him, throwing his ashtray at his head.  
Before her mind could register what he was doing. He was in front of the TV and had pulled out the end table that her injured ankle was resting on, causing it to fall to the ground and send shooting tendrils of pain up her nerves.

"OW!" she yelled again, closing her eyes and shifting on the couch. "Why in hell would you do that?"

"To prove a point."

"To prove that you're quite possibly the biggest asshole on the planet? Congratulations, you win."

Rolling his eyes as he walked into the kitchen, he started to dig around in the freezer.

Sakura found herself fighting the hot tears from running down her face again.

When he re-entered the room, he was holding a bottle of whiskey that he must of had stashed in the freezer.

"Are you going to celebrate the biggest asshole of the year award?" she snapped at him as she gingerly moved her leg closer to her.  
To her surprise, he sat down on the couch next to her, balled up his hoodie on his lap and gingerly grabbed her injured leg to put it on his hoodie and placed the cold bottle against it.  
She was too stunned to think of a comeback…Gaara was actually trying to help her.

"Is this you trying to be persuasive?" she asked suspiciously.

"No…why? Is it working?" he asked with a sideways smile.

"No."

"Hn. The last thing this place needs financially is for a worker's comp suit to be thrown into the mix."

"Oh…" Sakura said quietly, she hadn't realized the place was suffering. "I wouldn't…" she offered, silently hoping that Gaara would let go of her leg. But the cold bottle felt so good on her ankle. It felt like it was putting out a fire that was spreading across her skin.

"How'd you do this anyway? It looks like you did a number on yourself." Gaara said as he slowly turned her ankle that was now three times its normal size.

"I fell."

"Were you trying to get your degree in the medicinal art of the obvious?"

The flat, un-amused face was the answer.

"I tripped over a broken headstone, alright?"

"You were in the old part of the cemetery? Why would you go back there?"

_Because it's the place where I keep hearing disembodied voices and also where I found you sleeping on a grave…_she thought to herself. Instead she lied and said, "I was just walking around, not paying attention to where I was going is all."

"Hn."

A long period of silence passed as they both started blankly at the television in front of them. Every few minutes, Gaara would shift and turn the cold bottle to another area on her ankle.

"Gaara…" she started, trying to gauge his mood. "Do you ever hear voices in this place? Or strange noises you can't explain."

"No." his tone was so stern and final, Sakura didn't press the issue any further. But she saw something flash across his eyes for a second, and she couldn't help but wonder what he was hiding.

The TV droned noisily on and soon Sakura found herself drifting to sleep to the recorded sound-bytes of an audience laughing.


	8. Chapter 8

Wow...this didn't take as long as i though it would...  
I guess this is what happens when you have a long weekend and nothing to do.  
Sorry guys, i just kind of pushed this one out, and (i think) it's a bit premature, but i can always go back and fix it.  
Read and Review!  
You guys have been great! Thank you! :-)

* * *

She found herself in the field again.

Gaara was fast asleep, leaning his back against the headstone. She didn't feel comfortable and wanted to leave…but he looked so peaceful sleeping like that, she didn't want to disturb him.  
"Gaara" she whispered, barely audible even to her own ears. He stirred a little bit and then settled back to sleep.  
"Gaara" she whispered louder this time. His nose scrunched and she heard his usual cranky moan as he slumped lower onto the stone.  
"Gaara, please. We have to get out of here." She wasn't exactly sure why they had to leave, she just knew they needed to.  
Surveying her surroundings, no one was around, but she noticed that the trees were blowing violently with no wind to stir them.  
Panic started to build in her chest as she felt the adrenaline start to course through her veins.  
She spun around to yell at him, but her voice caught in her throat. He was still sleeping in the same spot but he wasn't supported by the headstone anymore. Instead, the woman wearing the bloody hospital gown was cradling him in her lap.

She wanted to run, wanted to bolt out of there as fast as she could, but her feet failed her. All she could do was stare as the woman gently brushed the hair out of Gaara's eyes.  
"Help me." She heard the woman's voice say, once again coming from every single direction.  
"What do you want?" Sakura asked softly, tears spilling down her face.  
"Help me."  
"I don't know how…"  
The woman looked up at her then, Sakura could see that her face was wet from crying.  
The woman's eyes were the darkest shade of gray Sakura had ever seen, they reminded her of rain heavy storm clouds.  
"Help…" the woman's voice was fading away as Gaara stirred in her arms.  
"How?!" Sakura cried out frantically.  
But the woman's figure was starting to fade away the more Gaara pulled himself out of sleep.

A loud bang jolted her awake, the left side of her body was completely numb. She tried to sit up, but something heavy was stopping her. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she looked down and paused.  
Gaara was fast asleep, using her as a human body pillow. His arms were snaked around her waist and his full weight had the lower half of her body pinned beneath him.

Sensing that she wasn't alone in the room, she gently craned her stiff neck to look behind her. There she found a very shocked and surprised Kankurou.

"Good morning" she offered groggily, still half asleep and half reeling from her dream. "What brings you to this part of the cemetery?"  
The look on his face didn't change as he just continued to stare at her.

"What?" she asked testily, never one to be too cordial in the morning.  
And that's when it hit her like a semi-truck…Gaara was sleeping on her.  
Not just sleeping, _cuddling _with her.  
_Gaara _was sleeping. on. her!

"Gaara wake up!" she screamed, moving her legs around as best she could. She managed to gain some room with her wiggling and effectively knocked him off the couch.

"What the fuck?" he yelled, pushing himself off of the floor, meeting her angry eyes with the same amount of fury.

"You were sleeping on me!" she yelled and pointed at him accusingly.

"I was not!" he shot back, rubbing the side of his head where it had hit the ground.

"Yes you were! If I find so much as a drop of drool on me I will skin you alive!"

"Yeah, yeah…" he mumbled, continuing to check his head for any damage while Sakura scanned her clothes for wet marks.

"What do you want?" Gaara asked his brother angrily. Sakura had forgotten that he was even in the room, let alone that he was the one to wake her up.

"I…I came here to check on you guys since neither one of you had punched out yet, and the door was locked…and I got worried so I busted it open and…found you two sleeping on the couch…together."

"We were not sleeping together!" Sakura shouted. "This is all your fault!" she screamed louder, pointing to the offending party.

"Right…" Kankurou said, a slow, knowing smirk spreading across his face.

"Wipe that smile off your face or I will take it off for you!" Sakura threatened the innocent man.  
Throwing his hands up in defeat, Kankurou began to back out of the house.

"I guess I'll be going then…I'll leave you two love birds alone."  
Jumping up and standing on the couch, Sakura frantically looked for something to throw at him.  
But before she could locate an object that would do some permanent damage, he was already gone, closing the door behind him.

A sharp pain ran up her leg as the memory of last night's injury came flooding to the forefront of her mind.  
"Ouch" she said sourly, dropping back onto the couch. Her ankle was still swollen and a dark bruise was starting to form.  
Looking up to see what Gaara was doing, she saw him sitting on the ground, staring at his palms.

"What are you doing?" she asked, anger still apparent in her voice.

"I was sleeping…" he mumbled, still staring at his hands.

"Yeah, on _me_."

"I was sleeping."

"Yes, people tend to do that. Most people, however, have the decency to move to another area and not use others as their pillow."

"You don't understand…_I _was _sleeping_."

"Right. We've been over this already."

"I never sleep."

"That's physically and humanly impossible."

"How long do you thing we were sleeping for?" he asked excitedly, jumping up from the floor.

"Um, a few hours…why?"

"How many hours?" he asked as he began to rummage through her purse.

"Hey! Get out of my purse!"

Digging around for a few moments, he pulled out her cell phone and checked the time. "It's noon!" he shouted, waving her phone in front of her face, showing her the time.

"And…" she prompted, still not seeing what the big excitement was.

"That means I slept for a good six hours at least!"

"Right…" Sakura said flatly, thrown off by the sudden change in his character.

"Tsunade is not going to believe this!"

"Wait…how do you know Tsunade?"

"She's my doctor." He stated simply. "Why?"

"Because she is, er, _was_ my mentor."

"Huh, small world."  
Now it was her turn to be dumbfounded. Apparently, she had more common ground with Gaara than she was comfortable with…

A shooting pain shot up her leg, drawing her attention back to her ankle. She let out a loud hiss as she gingerly grabbed her ankle.  
"That looks like shit." Gaara said flatly.  
Sakura wasn't sure if she was happy or sad that he was now back to normal.

"Who's being obvious now." She fired back, pulling her jeans up to fully survey the damage.

"Can you walk?" he asked.

"I doubt it," she answered honestly. Judging by the look of the sprain, she shouldn't try to put her weight on it for a while.

"I guess you're stuck here then." He said as he walked into the kitchen, placing his whiskey bottle back into the freezer.

"No. I am _not_ staying here."

"How do you plan on getting to the front then?" he asked as he leaned against the wall and pulled out a cigarette from the crushed pack that was in his pocket.

"I'm sure one of the guys could drive me up there." She said as she pulled reached for her cell that he had left on the couch.

"They don't get paid to be your chauffer."

"What do you expect me to do then?"

"I already told you."

"And I told you that I'm not staying here all day."

"I could carry you to the front if you want." He offered, a vision of Gaara carrying her princess-style all the way through the cemetery rose to mind. It was bad enough that Kankurou had found them sleeping together, let alone what other kind of rumors would start to spread if anyone saw him carrying her.

"I'd rather rot."

"Is that your final answer?"  
The flat, angry look she was giving him was the only answer she could come up with.

"Then, you're staying here."

"What do you plan on doing today?" Sakura asked, hoping his answer would follow along the lines of take a long walk off a short cliff.

"Nothing."

Sighing heavily she replied, "I figured as much."

Palming her cell phone, she considered calling Ino. It had been so long since she had any human interaction outside of Gaara and his messed up family…  
Dialing the number quickly, she waited to see if her friend would answer.  
_She's probably working,_ she thought to herself as the phone continued to ring.  
Suddenly, she heard her friend's voice cheerfully chime into the receiver, "Forehead?"  
Sighing in relief, she answered, "Hi, pig."  
"Well, you aren't dead after all! I called you forever ago and you never called me back!"  
"I know, I'm sorry…I've just been busy, you know?"  
"Well, what's up then?"  
"I was kind of hoping you weren't working today or had made any plans…I'm kind of stuck at work until I start my shift tonight and was wondering if you wanted to come keep me company." Sakura closed her eyes and crossed her fingers waiting for her answer.  
"Well, forehead, it's your lucky day! How do I get there?"  
After a few quick directions and Ino promising she would be there soon, Sakura disconnected the call and exhaled another sigh of relief. At least she wasn't going to be alone with Gaara all day.

Looking up to find Gaara staring at her, she asked shortly.  
"What?"

"Pig?" he asked, motioning toward her cell phone.

"Long story…she's a good friend."

"If verbally abusing people is a sign of friendship, I must be the best friend you've ever had."

"That's different, you deserve what you get."

"Hn."  
Going back to his crushed pack of cigarettes, he pulled the remaining cigarettes out, surveying them each for potential damage.

"You know how it is with friends," she said, offering him a better explanation, "making fun of each other is a sign that you care about each other."

"I don't have any friends."

Now it was Sakura's turn to stare at him. "None?"

"Nope."

"None at all, ever in your entire life?"

"Nope."

"That's…sad." Sakura said softly, a whole new light now shined on Gaara in her eyes.  
_Maybe that's why he acts the way he does.  
_

"I think it's pathetic that people can't stand to be alone and have to seek out company in other people."

_Nope, he's just as asshole.  
_Rolling her eyes she asked, "What are you going to do when Ino gets here?"

"Watch TV."

"And…?"

"Ignore the fact that the two of you are ruining my day."

Biting her tongue, Sakura stared at the time on her cell…Ino should _really _hurry up.

* * *

"This place isn't so bad, forehead. I thought it was going to be a lot worse…" Ino said as she looked around the house.  
Gaara had (thankfully) disappeared upstairs before she had gotten there. Sakura hoped that he would stay up there until she left.

"It kinda grows on you," Sakura shrugged. "Besides, it's not the place itself that's so bad, it's my coworker…"

"What do you mean?"

"He's…difficult." Is all Sakura could really say, she couldn't really put everything into words.

"How? Want me to beat him up?" Ino offered, pounding her fist into her palm.

Sakura laughed at her friend's antics and shook her head. "No, it's just…it's hard to describe. It's like being depressed, annoyed, pissed off, harassed, and content all rolled into one, every single night."

Ino laughed, "That's called a relationship."

Sakura hit her friend's shoulder and said, "I'm serious! I feel like I'm always on edge."

"Harassed how?"

"Well, just last night he told me that we should have sex because he thought it would be interesting and it would stop me from being a raging bitch all the time."

"What an ass!" Ino exclaimed, "did you knee him in the nuts?"

"Almost." Sakura admitted, memories of being pinned under him on the couch came flooding to her mind.

Above them she heard a loud thud, and heard heavy footsteps start to travel down the hall.  
"Shhh, he's coming!" Sakura exclaimed, covering up her friend's mouth before she could call Gaara anymore names.

Gaara lazily slumped down the stairs.  
To Sakura's surprise, he wasn't wearing the usual black t-shirt and jeans, which Sakura imagined he had a whole closet full.  
He had actually changed into a pair of baggy sweat pants that hung off his waist, exposing the skin on his stomach below his belly button, and a white tank top that hung off him like loose skin.  
Sakura could see the edges of a tattoo spanning across his back. She couldn't make out what it was because his shirt blocked most of it, but she could tell that it covered most of his back.  
He rubbed the back of his head sluggishly, disheveling his hair more than it normally was. His other hand pressed against his temple, making slow, even circles.  
Walking right past the two girls sitting on the couch without even acknowledging that they were there, he practically dragged himself into the kitchen, not even bothering to pick up his feet.

"Is that him?" Ino mouthed silently to Sakura. Sakura nodded once.  
"Damn!" Ino said as she fanned herself, stretching her neck to peer into the kitchen.  
Sakura felt slightly betrayed…she had just described to Ino how _horrible_ he made her feel, and here her friend was drooling all over herself.

Returning back from the kitchen he slowly made his way back to the stairs. He walked slower on his return trip, since he was balancing a six pack of beer on top of the pizza box he had pulled out of the fridge.

"She has to be gone by the time we start our shift." He mumbled.

"I know." Sakura said.

"I'm Ino." Her friend practically shouted, jumping off the couch and extending her hand out to Gaara.  
It hung in the space between them. Gaara just stared at it, before he lifted his eyes to Ino's face for the first time.

"I don't care who you are."

"Right…" Ino said, retracting her hand. "Just thought I'd lighten the mood."

Looking past her friend, Gaara locked eyes with Sakura.  
"Are all of your friends as annoying as you are?"

Completely embarrassed by Ino's actions, Sakura shook her head and said, "I'd like to think that they are _more_ annoying than I am…"

"Hn."  
Returning back up the stairs finally, Sakura let out the breath she didn't know she was holding.

"_THAT'S _your coworker?! You didn't tell me he was hot as hell!" Ino said, dropping back down to the couch, completely unaffected by Gaara's rudeness.

"He is not." Sakura said as she scrunched her nose up.

"Uh…yeah he is! Have you even _looked _at his ass the entire time you've been working here?!"

Rolling her eyes at her friend she replied, "His attitude makes him hideous."

"Right…but that man offered you free and clear sex, and you didn't even take a second to consider it?!"

"Of course not! I'm not a whore."

"Of course you're not, honey. However, you _are_ a human being, and it _has_ been quite a while since you and Sasuke broke up…"

Why was everyone prying into her sex life? Sakura wondered as she slouched deep into the couch.

"Did I mention he's a drug addict?"

"Did I mention that doesn't matter because it's not like you have to date the guy."

Sakura slouched deeper into the couch and covered her face with her hands.

"Look, I'm not saying you should, and I'm not saying you shouldn't. I'm just saying that maybe you should consider it…and if you won't, let me know, 'cause I will!"

* * *

The day flew by too fast for Sakura's liking.  
Before she knew it, the sun was setting and Ino was saying her goodbye.

"Call me when you can," Ino said as she hugged her friend goodbye. "And get that ankle looked at if it doesn't get any better!"

"I will." Sakura promised as she gave her one final tight squeeze.

"And seriously consider his offer. It can't do any harm." Ino whispered into her ear.

Rolling her eyes again, Sakura waved and watched her friend walk up the gravel road to the front of the cemetery.

"I figured it out." A voice from inside the house said.

Limping around to come back into the house, Sakura found Gaara leaning against the stairway, a cigarette in one hand and a can of beer in the other.

"Figured what out?" she asked half-commitedly as she hobbled her way back to the couch.

"You."

"This'll be good." She said as she flipped the TV on.

"You're a lesbian."

"I am not."

"Are you sure? It would explain a lot."

"Yes, I'm sure. Now, go away."

Rolling his eyes at her, he bounded up the stairs again.

Once alone, Sakura began to seriously weigh Gaara's offer.  
Measuring the pros and cons, she was surprised to find that the pros greatly outweighed the cons by an immense number.  
She would get to have an active sex life again.  
She only had to drive to work to get it.  
She could lay out her own terms and conditions.  
And she didn't even have to worry about any attachments or emotions.  
The only con that she could think of was having to deal with Gaara…and she already had to do that…she may as well get _something_out of the deal.

A little shaky on her decision, she figured she could always change her mind if things started to get out of control.

Almost as if he had been summoned, Gaara came down the stairs again, wearing his usual black t-shirt and jeans.

"I'm going to run the rounds before the sun goes down completely, I'll be back."

"When you come back we need to talk…" Sakura said to his back as he strolled out the door.

Stopping immediately, he turned around in the doorway and asked as he narrowed his eyes, "Why?"

"We just do."

"When girls say 'they want to talk', it's never about anything good."

"How would you know? Have you ever kept a girl around longer than a night?"

"I have a sister, remember?"

Sighing, she said, "It's fine, I promise."

"Hn." Crossing his arms in front of his chest, he leaned against the doorframe. "I'm not leaving until you tell me what it's about."

"And not I'm telling you until you come back."

They stayed like that for a while, neither moving, both just staring at one another.

It wasn't until a fly buzzed past Sakura's head until she cracked.

"You're letting bugs in!" She screeched.

"So?"

"Just go already!"

"Not until you tell me."

Another fly buzzed by her head and Sakura swatted at it with her hand, completely missing it.  
"I'm considering your proposition." She mumbled, returning her attention back to the TV.

"Really?" he cooed as Sakura heard the door shut.

He was still leaning against the door frame, but at least the door was closed.  
"But I need more time to think." She said, gathering up all the courage she had in her to look him in the eye.

"How much time?"

"I need you to go on your rounds. I'll have an answer for you by the time you get back."

"Want me to make them longer than usual?"

Blinking a few times at the honesty of his question, she slowly nodded and said, "Please."

By the time she looked back at the place where he was standing, he was gone.

Dropping her head into her hands, Sakura wondered what she was getting herself into. She knew nothing bad could come out of it, but she couldn't help but feel like she was making a deal with the devil.


	9. Chapter 9

SORRY! I told myself that i would have this chapter out by Halloween...and obviously that didn't happen *sigh*.

I hope you all enjoy! it was very difficult to write this one because i wasn't sure where i wanted to go with it. the song "Opposites Attract" from the Black Swan soundtrack helped out a lot though.

Please review! :-)

* * *

"Alright" she heard herself saying. Her voice seemed very loud in the house.  
Gaara had returned from his rounds and stood by the door, patiently waiting for her answer.

"Cool." Was all he said as he lit up a cigarette. "Are you on the pill or anything?"

Sakura's eyes widened at the very personal question he had just directed toward her. _I guess I'll have to get used to it_, she thought. _Afterall, I _did_ just agree to sleep with the guy.  
_

"Yes." She answered honestly.

"Any STDs I need to worry about?"

Her jaw practically dropped to the floor as she stared at him, "No, of course not!"

"I'm just checking," he said as he threw his hands up defensively.

"What about you?" she shot back.

"Nope."

"Yeah right, I've seen the kind of girls you bring back. When was the last time you were tested? Ten years ago?"

"Last week." He answered honestly, snuffing out his cigarette in an old glass of water that was sitting abandoned by the door.

"Really?" Sakura asked, not even attempting to hide the surprise in her voice.  
"Tsunade makes me test every time I see her."

"Oh." Sakura said, forgetting the fact that he was a patient of her old boss. "That's a very Tsunade thing to do."

"She knows me." Gaara said with a small smirk. "I think she's just looking for another excuse to yell at me."

"I'd yell at you too if you were my patient." Sakura pointed out.

"Whatever." He mumbled as he dug around his pockets for another pack of cigarettes as he tossed the empty pack aside.

"So…" Sakura started, trying to break the very awkward silence that now filled the house. "How do we do this."

"Well, Sakura, " he started in a mocking tone, "when two people love each other…"

"Shut up!" she yelled as she rolled her eyes at him. "I know what sex is! What I meant was how do _we_ do _this._"

"Oh, it ain't happening now." He stated flatly as he walked past her and into the kitchen.

"It's not?" she asked, half surprised. She was under the impression she was going to get this out of her system sooner rather than later.

"I mean," he said as he leaned against the wall, cracking open a beer he had just retrieved from the fridge. "I can if you really want me to, but I figured with you being a girl and all, you'd want it to be special or whatever."

"Don't flatter yourself." She said, staring daggers at him.

"Hey, you only get one go at this. So either we can do it now, or we can wait until it's less awkward. I believe girls call that the 'right moment'."

"I didn't pin you as that kind of guy." She stated honestly.

"I've been around the block." He stated, shrugging his shoulders. "I've learned that you can have sex, good sex, or _great _sex."

"And you choose that last option I take it."

"Wouldn't you?"

Mauling everything over in her brain, she simply nodded her head.  
"And this is a one time thing, right?"

"I'm not into repeat performances."

"I figured as much…"

The house filled with awkward silence again as they both just stared at each other.

"So what am I supposed to do in the meantime? Sit around and wait?"

Draining the remaining contents of his beer and moving to grab another one, he said over his shoulder, "No, what _you_ can do is go run your rounds."

"What about you?" she asked defensively.

"I just got back from mine, remember? It's your turn."

Sighing loudly, Sakura stood unstably from the couch and hobbled to the door. "Fine." She mumbled

"And Sakura," he called from behind her.  
Hopping around to face him once again, she found him sitting on the couch, already flipping through the channels on the TV.

"Try not to fall over any headstones again, will ya?"  
Grinding her teeth together, she hobbled out the door, trying her best to slam the door as loud as she could.

* * *

Two weeks had passed since Sakura had made her arrangement with Gaara, and she still found herself on the longest sex-free streak she had ever been on. She was beginning to think that he had just made the offer to her to see if she would agree or not, never actually intending to act on it.

As the nights continued to pass, she became more and more irritable with him. He hadn't changed at all, however. He was still his same abrasive self with her, making comments and jabs just to see steam come out of her ears.

Her ankle was healing quickly and she was now able to walk somewhat normally again. Only a slight limp remained to show that she had even hurt herself to begin with. She found herself starting to enjoy doing the rounds by herself, it gave her some alone time and she found that she was able to let herself relax instead of constantly being on guard from Gaara's verbal attacks. She even had a spot that she went to when things got really bad just to relax. It was a giant willow tree in the middle of the grounds. Its leaves hung down like giant swaying curtains that cut her off from everyone and everything in the world. The surrounding headstones didn't even bother her anymore, she stopped recognizing them as humans that had passed and started to see the place as a giant park.

She found herself going there more and more often. She knew that sitting under the tree wasn't exactly in her job description, but for once she allowed herself to relax and bend the rules a little bit. She didn't dare mention it to Gaara either, she could already imagine the teasing that would follow soon after.

It was this exact spot she found herself traveling to, as if she had internal migrating instincts. As soon as she stepped out of the house she found her feet moving across the empty fields, keeping the tree in her eyesight the entire time.

A bright light flashed in her peripheral vision and forced her to pause. Looking around, she didn't notice anything unusual, so she started walking toward the tree again. The same light followed by a deep voice forced her to stop once again. There was definitely someone in the cemetery…and she was by herself. The light was moving up and down, scanning the surroundings as two shadows walked briskly across the grounds. She couldn't make out the conversation, but she could make out a man's voice and a woman's voice.

Ducking behind a statue, Sakura tucked herself in and waitined for the intruders to pass. She knew that she wasn't the most intimidating person, and had decided to run back to the house and grab Gaara. That way the fight would at least be even. She watched as the two shadows shrank into the darkness beyond the treed border, and then bolted as fast as she could to the house.

Gaara was watching TV when she burst in, completely out of breath.

"What the hell…?" he asked, jumping at her sudden entry and spilling beer onto his clothes.

"There's someone in the cemetery!" she panted, eyes wide.

"What? Where?!"

"They went to the spot…" Sakura caught herself.  
The two intruders had went to the spot where she had found Gaara that one night, but she couldn't tell him that.

"Where Sakura?!"

"They went to the spot where the older graves are…beyond the trees."

"Shit…" he cursed, putting his beer on the ground and dropping his cigarette inside of it. Sakura heard the hot ashes hiss as it hit the alcohol.  
Grabbing his hoodie from behind her, Sakura watched as his demeanor changed before her eyes. He wasn't scared, he wasn't panicked, he didn't even seem that concerned about it. He was almost calm...  
Meeting his eyes, she found that they had an unwavering determination to them.

"Follow me." He said as he stepped out of the house.

She followed behind him as quickly as she could, but her ankle didn't allow her to move as fast and as silently as he did. In retrospect, she probably should have walked briskly to grab Gaara instead of running…  
He quickly ducked into the woods that surrounded the entire property and evaporated into the shadows.

"Gaara!" she whispered as quietly as she could.

Leaves rustled a few yards next to her and he stepped out into the open again.  
"Are you coming?" he whispered back.

"I lost you…my ankle…" she let the words hang between them. She couldn't keep up with him, and he was easily lost in the woods.  
Walking quickly to her, he grabbed her hand and marched into the woods.

"Stay quiet" he warned as he slithered between branches.  
Sakura matched his movements flawlessly now that she was able to see what he was doing. Her eyes traveled down to their conjoined hands. The warmth of his skin seemed to block their chilly surroundings from getting to hers. Their pale hands seemed to glow in the darkness around them, making it look like two hands floating in the air.

Gaara stopped suddenly and Sakura ran into him. Bracing herself for the glare she was sure was coming, she flinched. Gaara didn't even look back at her though, instead he gently squeezed her hand and pulled her up next to him, motioning for her to get down.

They were in the trees that ran alongside the field that Sakura had found Gaara sleeping in. The two strangers were kneeling down alongside the grave of the woman that plagued Sakura's dreams. They appeared to be in deep conversation with one another. The woman had her hand on the headstone, while the man sat next to her observing her every move.

Sakura heard Gaara swear under his breath and then watched as he stood up, looking more annoyed than scared. She moved to follow him but was stopped by Gaara's hand on her shoulder.

"Stay here." He said as he moved out of the trees and into the field.

"I thought I told you two to never come back." He said, as he languidly walked toward the two strangers.

"And I thought it was understood that you couldn't keep us out." The man responded.  
Sakura didn't like the scene playing out before her. Gaara was trying to look as relaxed as possible, but she could see the tension and apprehension in his posture.

"We're just trying to help…" the woman offered, standing up and taking her hand off of the headstone.

"You can help by leaving." Gaara said shortly, cutting the woman off.

"You don't have the right to keep me away from her. She was my sister, I can come visit her whenever I want."

"During normal business hours, sure. But not on my watch. Get out."  
The man seemed to tighten every muscle in his body, Sakura watched as Gaara did the same. They both seemed to be prepared to pound each other to pulp at a moment's notice.

"She not at rest!" the woman shouted, jumping up next to the man, trying to calm him down.

"And no wonder! The reason why she's dead hovers over her on a daily basis!" the man shouted, pointing at Gaara.

Gaara reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. The man seethed at him as Gaara slowly lit it, exhaling a big plume of smoke into the chilly night air."I said get out, I won't say it again."

"Gaara please…" the woman pleaded. "You can help, we just need time."

"He doesn't care…look at him! He's never cared about anyone in his entire life! The world lost an angel and gained a monster the day my sister died."

"Died?" Gaara asked, taking a long pull from his cigarette. "Or just too weak to handle the consequences of her actions?"  
The man moved toward Gaara but was stopped by Gaara's voice again, "Be careful old man, I'm not six anymore."

The man lunged at Gaara then. Gaara gracefully moved out of the way and grabbed the man's jacket. Throwing him to the ground and pinning him there, Gaara began to wail on the man with his fists. The woman screamed for him to stop, but didn't seem to pierce through to Gaara's understanding. Sakura watched as the two struggled with one another, the stranger getting a few hits in himself but nothing hard enough to stop Gaara's attack on him.

Adrenaline coursed through her body for the second time that night, allowing her to forget about the pain in her ankle. She bolted out of the woods and grabbed Gaara's arm, pulling him off the now bloodied man.

Almost as fast as Sakura had moved, the other woman did the same as she pulled the man from off the ground. "Stop it!" she yelled. "We're leaving, NOW!"  
Sakura still had Gaara's arm in her grip but was surprised that he wasn't even trying to pull free. He sat on the ground next to her staring daggers at the beaten man, hot breath coming out in clouds of smoke that surrounded the two of them.

Sakura waited until the two strangers were out of the field and on their way back to where they had come from before she knealed down next to Gaara.  
"Are you alright?" she asked, eyes wild as the adrenaline pumped through her body.

He nodded in response.

"Who _was_ that?" Sakura asked as she stared at the place the two had disappeared in to.

"My uncle."

Sakura felt chills run down her spine. What kind of uncle treats his nephew like that…  
"Then that grave is for you aunt or…"

"My mom." Gaara finished for her. He was staring at the grave, the previous ire in his eyes was now replaced with sadness.

Not wanting to press him further, she noticed a gash on his forehead that was deep and pouring blood down the side of Gaara's face.  
"You're bleeding." Sakura pointed out.

Gaara brought his hand to the side of his head to check for himself. When he pulled his hand away and saw nothing but blood he said distantly, "I guess I am…"

"Come on, I'll clean you up." She said as she gently pulled him off of the ground.

* * *

Upon returning to the house, Sakura instructed Gaara to sit on the couch while she looked for the first aid kit. He sat silently on the couch, staring at his hands while she rummaged through the drawers in the kitchen. She wasn't sure what had just happened, but she knew she didn't like when Gaara was like this. It was almost like he was too vulnerable, even though he didn't show it. She was starting to get the feeling that Gaara actually could feel and be affected by others.

Finding the kit at last, Sakura turned the stove off under the pot of water she had started to boil. Grabbing a bag of tea out of her backpack, she poured some of the water into a cup and the remainder into a bowl. Walking toward Gaara again, she set the bowl on the floor and handed him the cup.

"Drink." She instructed softly. Gaara eyed the cup for a few moments and took an experimental sip.

"What is this?" he asked, disgust in his voice.

"Tea."

"It tastes like shit."

Smirking at herself now that Gaara was back to his normal self, she responded, "I know, but it helps."

She began to dab at his cut with a rag and the warm water, trying not to hurt him as much as possible. To her surprise, he didn't even wince.

"Aren't you going to ask what that was all about?" he asked quietly.

"No."

Gaara moved to look at her then, his eyes looking directly into hers. "Why not?"

"Because it's none of my business. And I figured if you wanted me to know, you would tell me without any prodding."

He studied her for a few moments, as if trying to decide if he should believe her or not. He offered a soft 'hn' and looked away again, seemingly satisfied with her answer.

They sat in silence after that, Sakura quickly finished up her work and surveyed the job she had done.

"You may need a stitch or two…but this should work…" She said as she stood up. Grabbing the bowl from the floor she motioned for Gaara to give her his now empty cup.

"Why are you helping me?" he asked, as he stared at her outstretched hand.

"Because I can."

He slowly pushed the cup into her hand, surveying her every move, as if he was ready for her to strike him.

Honestly, every fiber in Sakura's body burned with curiosity. Of _course_ she wanted to know what had just happened. But she wasn't going to push Gaara for information either. She walked the dishes over to the sink and started to run the water. Plugging the sink up, she poured some dish soap into the water and started to wash the dishes. The hot water and the movements of her hands seemed to hypnotize her as they ran over the dishes. Her movements and the sound of running water took her away from the house and what had happened in the cold field. It was almost promising her that there was warmth and comfort still in the world.

She didn't hear Gaara enter the kitchen, but jumped when she felt his breath on the back of her neck.

"What are you doing?" Gaara's voice whispered into her ear, his breath washing down her neck.

"Washing the dishes." She answered quietly, still mesmerized by her movements.  
She felt pressure on her back as Gaara leaned into her, his arms moving to her front and into the water as well.

"What are you doing?" she whispered, staring at his hands.

"Helping."

Their hands moved in unison in the soapy water. Fingers brushing against each other every so often. Sakura began to wash the bowl, grabbing it with both hands and gently rubbing the soap suds on it. Gaara's hands enveloped her own as she moved both of their hands over the glass. Gaara intertwined his fingers with hers, emerging her hands from the water and began to rinse them off under the faucet.

Sakura felt as he pressed himself closer. She could feel his warmth engulf her as his heart beat against her back. The air in the room seemed to get thicker, as if everything in the world was narrowing down to that place and that moment.

She felt as he gently brushed his lips against the nape of her neck, inhaling sharply. Her knees almost gave out right then, and a deep shudder ran throughout her. She waited until he did it again, harder this time, before she turned to look at him.  
Her eyes met his immediately, as if he had been anticipating her move. She could see a different kind of look in his eyes than the look that was normally there…they were almost softer.

He kissed her neck again, and Sakura couldn't help herself but close her eyes. She felt as his hands traveled up her sides and to her front, sliding up under her shirt and massaging her skin.  
Placing her hands on top of his as they traveled over her skin, she leaned into him and felt his weight shift to support her.  
Her skin felt like it was on fire to her.

Letting his hands go, she moved her hand behind her and ran her fingers through his hair.  
As if a switched had been flicked, he immediately turned her around and crushed his lips against hers. Kissing her in a frenzy, Sakura couldn't help but be swept up in it. Grabbing the side of his face, she pulled him closer to her with a moan.  
Before she was able to comprehend what was going on, she found herself sitting on the edge of the counter, trying to pull off his shirt.  
Gaara's skin was as pale as she had imagined it would be, but was also beautiful at the same time. Tiny scars marred its flawlessness and she found herself running her fingers over them, a look of concern eclipsing her face.

As if reading her mind, Gaara grabbed her fingers and pressed them to his lips, gently biting down on her pinky finger.  
A smile crossed her face again as she helped him take her shirt off as well. Cold air hit her exposed skin and a shiver ran up her spine.

"Cold?" Gaara asked, kissing a trail from her collarbone down to her breast bone.

"Yes…" Is all Sakura could manage as her senses continued to be bombarded.

Gently lifting her off the counter, careful to avoid hitting her ankle against anything, he carried her to the couch. Once there, he grabbed a blanket for the two of them and wrapped her in it.  
"Better?"  
Sakura nodded and smiled at him again.  
She watched as he started to undo her jeans and she thought that this was threshold of no return. If she let him continue, things may never be the same between them again.

"Hey." She heard him say, breaking her out of the reverie she was in.

"Stop thinking so much. You _always_ think too much."

"It's kind of my thing…" she muttered.

"Well, stop."  
Rolling her eyes at him, Sakura lifted herself up so he could pull her pants off.

The cold air on her legs immediately caused a breakout of goosebumps. Gaara's warm hand on the inside of her thigh brought her right back to her current situation.  
Trailing kisses from her stomach to her hip, Sakura couldn't help but moan. Bringing her leg up higher, he gently bit the tender skin, causing a wave of pleasure to shoot up her spine.  
Knowing what his intentions were, she wasn't sure if she wanted that or not. And she also wasn't sure what was more overpowering, the waves of pleasure she was getting, or the annoyance of his jeans rubbing against her skin.

Sitting up, stopping Gaara from what he was doing, she started to tug at his belt to undo it. She was only halfway to undoing his jeans before she was pushed back down onto her back. His weight on top of her, pinning her down. She heard his pants hit the floor and felt as he moved her into a more suiting position.

"Last chance." He whispered into her ear.  
Biting her bottom lip, Sakura nodded at him…she had already passed the point of no return a while ago…

Again, everything in the world narrowed down to the two of them as Gaara filled her. Stifling a moan against his neck, she moved so he would be more comfortable.  
He began moving slowly, as if not to hurt her. But then began to speed up as Sakura's breathing began to speed up. Pushing her hips down into the couch, Sakura found she couldn't escape or move away from the intense waves that were traveling throughout every nerve in her body.  
Trying to squirm away only made his grip firmer. It was almost too much to handle at once…  
She moaned into his mouth and gently raked her nails across his back. She felt more than heard his moan rumble in his chest as his grip tightened again.

Sakura felt like the world was starting to turn slightly, but couldn't really concentrate on it fully. It wasn't until the couch seemed to disappear from under her that she realized what was going on. Gaara caught the brunt of the fall with her landing on him as well as the floor.

Looking around, trying to take in what had just happened, he turned his attention to her and asked, "Are you alright?"

Stifling a laugh, Sakura nodded and said, "Yeah."  
Taking full advantage of him being off guard, she quickly pinned him under her.

"Hey," he said as he started to move her under him again.  
Grabbing his wrists and pinning them against the ground, she kissed him to stop him from saying whatever he was about to say. She began to move but waited until she felt him relax under her and felt his moan against her lips before she stopped kissing him.  
His hands traveled up her legs to her hips, his nails gently raking her skin. Grabbing her hips gently, he began to move her as he matched her pace.  
In order to keep herself grounded, she pushed her hands into his chest, dragging her nails on his skin until her hands were in fists.

Using this as an opportunity, Sakura found herself falling once again as she was rolled onto her back. Grabbing her leg and putting it over his shoulder, Sakura gasped at the new sensations that were thrumming through her.

Intense waves of pleasure ran through her at every move he made. Struggling against him made his grip on her tighten as his paced increased. The world narrowed down to blackness as Sakura felt her insides tighten against him. Liquid fire ran down her spine as she let out a loud moan that echoed throughout the house. She felt as Gaara's muscles tightened as his low moan followed suit with hers.

Lying on the floor, waiting for her breath to catch up with her, Sakura felt a shudder run through Gaara's body as his head rested on her chest. His heart was pounding against her and his breath was running across her skin causing the goosebumps to return. Lifting his head up to meet her gaze he gasped quietly, "wow…".  
"Wow." Sakura returned resting her head against the floor once again.

* * *

Cigarette smoke filled the air, and for once Sakura didn't mind it. They were both lying on the floor in silence, basking in the aftermath of their efforts.

Gaara was leaning against the couch, the blanket covering his legs, enjoying a cigarette more than Sakura had ever seen him before. Surveying his naked torso, Sakura decided that Ino had in fact been right…Gaara _was_ good looking.

Catching her staring, Gaara smirked at her and said, "What?"

"Nothing." Sakura said as she stretched on the floor.

"Hn."

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" she asked, sitting up from the floor.

"No. Why?"

Sakura pointed to his chest. Small, red, raised lines were forming where her nails and dragged against his skin.  
Looking at them, Gaara shook his head again. "They don't hurt."

"Good."

Silence engulfed them again, as Gaara put out his cigarette and began to gather his clothes together.

"Do you know where my shirt is?" he asked as he buttoned up his jeans.

"By the sink…I think." Sakura said as she sat up, covering herself with the blanket. "Can you hand me my pants, please?"

"Why are you doing that?" he asked, motioning toward the blanket.

"I'm covering myself."

"Why?"

"Because I'm naked…" she stated, shrugging her shoulders.

"Right…and I just saw you naked five minutes ago, or have you forgotten about that already?"

"Of course not…I'm just more comfortable this way."

"Whatever." Gaara said as he handed her her pants.

Stretching, he grabbed his hoodie and threw it on real quick. "I'm going to run the rounds one more time to make sure those fuckers didn't come back. Do you want to come?"  
Nodding her head, Sakura got dressed quickly and followed Gaara out of the door, silently hoping that she just didn't make the worst mistake of her life.


	10. Chapter 10

The next installment. Sorry for the delay all...but by now you should expect this from me.  
R&R, it's always appreciated! :-)

* * *

At some point during the night, Sakura fell asleep…but it was anything but restful.  
Her dreams were full of the woman she now knew as Gaara's mother constantly reaching for her, asking for help.  
She wasn't even scared of the dead woman anymore. She would ask her how she could help only to be asked for help over and over again.  
They were in the field next to her grave, the woman standing in front of it, pleading with her eyes.  
There was a noise in the background that Sakura barely noticed at first since it started as a buzz. But as the dream went on, it got louder and louder until Sakura recognized the sound as a baby crying.  
As she looked around for the source of the noise, she noticed a blanket on the ground behind the woman. The crying turned into screaming as the wind and the rain around her attacked the blanket indiscriminately.  
She noticed two pale and very small arms reaching out for anything beyond the blanket.  
The screaming grew louder and louder until Sakura was forced to cover her ears.  
A hand on her shoulder silenced everything and she woke with a start.

Bright light pummeled through the window, forcing her to shield her still sleepy eyes so they could adjust. Blindly reaching for her cell phone, Sakura noticed that it was past her shift…and Gaara had already left.

_At least he didn't stick around…_Sakura mused to herself and she hurriedly jumped up and started gathering her things. _That would have been awkward as hell._

Practically running through the cemetery, she bolted through the office building and ran straight to her car, punching Ino's phone number in on the way.

"Hey forehead." Her friend answered. "Glad to see you still exist during the daylight hours."  
"Ino, when is your lunch?" Sakura asked hurriedly, peeling out of the cemetery parking lot and onto the main road.  
"In about an hour, why?"  
"I'll meet you at the restaurant on the corner then."  
"Ok…are you alright."  
"Yeah I'm fine, why?"  
"You sound like you're freaking out or something..."  
"I'm fine…I…I'll explain everything when I see you."  
"Ok, see you then."  
Sakura hung up her cell and pitched it into the empty passenger seat next to her.  
_What a mess you've gotten yourself into this time Haruno…_she said to herself, looking at her reflection in the rear view mirror.

"You WHAT?!" Ino exclaimed a little too loudly in the small restaurant. The people around them turned and looked at the two of them.  
"Keep it down Ino, will you?"  
"Sorry, sorry….I just can't believe that you did that! It's not like you at all! How was it?"  
Dropping her head into her hands, Sakura sighed, "Ino…"  
"Hey, you don't get to tell me that you slept with your dreamy coworker and leave it at that! Spill!"  
"It was…fine I guess."  
"Fine…you guess…" Ino said, rolling her eyes at her friend. "You're a terrible liar, you know that?"  
"How do you know I'm lying?" Sakura said defensively. "For all YOU know it was the worst experience of my life!"  
"Right…which is why you called me while I was at work and told me to meet you at a restaurant just to tell me that you had sex last night."  
Realizing that her friend knew her way too well, Sakura gave up. "It was…phenomenal." She couldn't help the smile that crept onto her face.  
"I knew it!" Ino screeched, "spill!"  
"I'm not giving you details!" Sakura shot back. "That's all you get."  
Pouting at her while their food was delivered to their table, Sakura started to wonder why she had called her in the first place.  
"Give me this at least, is he as good looking naked as he is with his clothes on?"  
Scrunching her nose and forcing back yet another smile, Sakura simply nodded her head.  
"You go girl." Ino said, giving her a high-five from across the table.  
"What am I going to do now?" Sakura asked as she moved her food around on her plate.  
"What do you mean?"  
"It's going to be so awkward now. It was bad enough that I had to deal with his oppressive personality, now I have to deal with it knowing that I had sex with him."  
"Do it again?" Ino offered, as if it was the easiest thing in the world to do.  
"He doesn't do repeat performances." Sakura said, trying to imitate Gaara's voice as best she could.  
"Ah, gotcha. Then just go about your business."  
"How?" Sakura pleaded.  
"What do you mean how? Act like you normally do!"  
"Ino, I've never _done_ anything like this before! How am I supposed to pretend like _nothing _happened last night?!"  
"Sakura, listen to me. You are an adult. _He_ is an adult. You are two adults that had sex. Nothing more, nothing less. Don't make such a big deal about it! It's not like you have to go to prom with him or anything. You are a strong, independent, intelligent woman that just so happens to work with a very hot, very mysterious, and very sexy guy. It happens, relax!"  
"You're right…" Sakura muttered, taking a bite out of her burger.  
"It's too bad that he doesn't do repeat performances though, huh?"  
With a small, knowing smile, Sakura looked up and said, "You have no idea."

She was dragging her feet, and she knew it. No matter what Ino said, she knew her nights were going to be full of awkward moments. _Normally one night stands consist of sex and then never having to see or interact with that person again, _Sakura berated herself, _why would I choose someone that I see on a daily basis?!_

No matter how hard she tried to prolong her trek to the house, it eventually came into view. The light shining through the windows was like a beacon showing her that Gaara was inside. Music was blaring loudly inside, she didn't recognize a single note from it.  
Taking a deep breath before going in, she slowly opened the door. The smell of cigarettes greeted her first before she noticed that Gaara was sitting on the couch taking shots of some kind of brown liquor.  
"I was wondering when you were going to show up." he shouted over the music.  
"Hello to you too." She shot back as she made her way into the kitchen. She grabbed her anatomy textbook out of her bag and plopped down next to him on the couch.

She tried to concentrate on her book, but the music was so loud...she found herself zoning out and tuning into the music.  
"And I'm the host with Vaseline, I hide behind bulletproof glass. And I can feel your tits with my brand new camera equipped with a flash. Fast-food-nude, I hate you all. But somehow you find me...incredibly charming" she heard a man's voice crackle over the speakers.  
_Nice..._she thought to herself as she rolled her eyes. _Nothing like some nice, relaxing music while I study..._

"Can we turn this off?" she asked.  
Wincing down a shot, he stood up and turned the music off completely.  
"Don't like it?" he asked, sitting back down next to her.  
"Not really..." she muttered, flipping the page of her book.  
"He's a required taste." Gaara offered, lighting a cigarette.  
"Why do you like it?" she asked, looking up from her book.  
"It's exactly what I need." he said with a sly smile.  
"Right..." she muttered as she once again returned her attention to the book on her lap.

She had gotten exactly what she asked for: quiet. But now that there wasn't loud music to distract her, she couldn't help but feel the awkwardness slowly filter into the room. After a long, silent stretch, Sakura tried to see if he would be leaving her company at all that night. "Aren't you going to run your rounds?"  
Downing a shot and chasing it quickly he said, "Nope."  
"What if your uncle comes back?"  
"He won't."  
"How can you be so sure?"  
"It happens every year. He hires that wack-job psychic and visits my mom on the day she killed herself."  
Sakura's eyes went wide involuntarily, "Your mother killed herself?"  
"Yep. Happy birthday to me." He said as he lifted his shot glass into the air.  
"Yesterday was your birthday?"  
A simple nod was all she got as a response.  
"I'm sorry…that's really sad."  
"Whatever", he said as he searched around for another pack of cigarettes.  
Sakura couldn't help but notice the sad, distant look his eyes had before they hardened over again.  
"That was kind of a shitty day for your birthday…" Sakura offered.  
"Not really. I got to beat my uncle up and then had sex. Sounds like a good day to me."  
Sakura tried not to cringe on the outside, but inside she was dying. Chuckling awkwardly she returned her gaze to the book that was still open in her lap, wanting to escape from that conversation immediately.

The minutes seemed to crawl by as she sat next to him, trying her hardest to avoid that fact that he was there. Every now and then he would shift, or get up to get a beer once he had finished his liquor. Finally he said from the kitchen doorway, "I didn't think you were going to be like this."  
Still looking at her book she said, "Like what?"  
"Like this," he said as he gestured toward her. "You're awkward and quiet. If I would have known this is what my nights would turn into, I would have never offered to have sex with you. At least before you were fun..."  
"Fun?" she asked, looking up from her book. "You call me yelling at you and fighting with you on an hourly basis 'fun'?"  
"It was better than this."  
"You're sick."  
"Nine out of ten doctors agree."  
Rolling her eyes at him she shot back, "I am not ignoring you. I'm simply trying to keep up on my medical knowledge."  
"Right…I never knew the inner workings of the ear were that complex where you had to stare at the same diagram for over an hour."  
"I have not!"  
"You haven't turned the page since I turned the music off." He pointed out.  
Much to Sakura's dismay, he was right. She hadn't even read or really looked at a single thing since she had opened her book. She was simply trying to occupy herself with something in order to keep her mind from sidetracking back to last night's events.

The low chuckle she heard as he settled down next to her made her see red. He was basking in her embarrassment. Glaring daggers at him as he nonchalantly lit a cigarette, she quickly flipped through her book until she came to the page she was looking for.  
"THIS is what a smoker's lungs look like. Do you want to keep smoking that cigarette in your hand?" she asked as she shoved her book into his face.  
Lowering the book down slowly and pointing to his own face he responded with, "_This_ is the face of uncaring."  
"You're horrible." She muttered, returning to her book.  
"Gotta die of something." He shot back.  
"Doesn't mean you have to kill yourself along the way."  
"What's so great about life anyway? You sound like my sister…always nagging at me about how much I drink, and how much I smoke, and how drugs are bad for me. Why does everyone care?"  
"Because life can be great if you give it a chance."  
"Right. Life never gave me one, so whatever."  
Quickly shooting up from the couch, Gaara retreated into the kitchen, disappearing into the dark room.  
If she thought it was awkward before, it was smothering her now. Wanting to get off the subject immediately, she grasped at straws, "So why do you think frustrating me beyond all comprehension is fun?" she called into the kitchen.

Reappearing in the kitchen doorway once again, he cracked open yet another beer and shrugged his shoulders.  
"There has to be a reason…" she said, narrowing her eyes at him.  
"You get all flustered. It's funny."  
"I do not get flustered!"  
"Yeah you do. You get all red and start waving your arms around."  
"Do not!"  
Pointing at her he said, "You're doing it right now."  
Realizing that he was right, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  
"See?" he said, plopping back down onto the couch. "Fun."  
"I think you better go back to those nine doctors you mentioned earlier…"  
And for the first time since Sakura had started working there, she heard him laugh. Not just a low chuckle that he would let out every once in a while, but a real, genuine laugh.

Unknowingly, a smile spread to her face as she watched him laugh.  
"What?" he asked as his laugh started to fade out.  
"You should do that more often."  
"What?"  
Touching her finger to the side of his mouth she answered, "Laugh."  
A look of confusion crossed his face as her finger remained on his mouth and Sakura kicked herself for going too far again.  
Before she could completely lash herself with her inner dialogue, she found that she was being kissed by him.  
Once his actions registered, her body seemed to move on its own and respond with the same need and desperation that his kisses held.  
Pulling away, breathing hard she asked, "I thought you weren't into repeat performances?"  
Chuckling as he pulled her shirt over her head he said, "I'm always up for trying new things."

It wasn't until she was covered in sweat, panting for oxygen on his chest before she took in her actions. She had given in to him again...and with hardly any fight.  
She couldn't help but think that if this is what her nights would be reduced to, she wouldn't mind that much.  
Hearing his lighter flick and seeing the fire dance in the dark room, she studied his features closely and smiled behind her hand. As much as she hated to admit it, Ino was right...he _was_ a good looking guy.  
"You know," she said, turning over onto her stomach. "You keep this up, you're going to spoil me."  
"Hn. Wouldn't want that now, would we?"  
"I need to know what you're doing here..." she said, biting her lower lip.  
"Smoking a cigarette."  
"No," she said, shaking her head. "I need to know what you're doing with _this_." she motioned between the two of them.  
"Having fun." he shrugged. "There's nothing wrong with that."  
"Right, but..."  
"But you don't like to have fun?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.  
"No, it's just that...you keep this up long enough..."  
The look of pure confusion was plastered all over his face.  
Sighing and hiding her face in her hands she mumbled, "I'm not use to just "having fun". I'm use to having more than that."  
"Well, let me know when you feel something more, and I'll stop."  
That wasn't exactly the kind of answer she was looking for...then again, it _was_ Gaara she was dealing with.  
As if sensing her train of thought, he sat up and supported his weight on his forearms. "I'm not looking to get anything but sex out of this, Sakura."  
"Good." she countered, "I just wanted to make sure."  
Laying her head back down on his chest, she couldn't help but think of one of the lyrics she had heard earlier that night: "don't assume that I'm always with you, It's just where my mortal body happens to be."


End file.
